President ial democratic town halls will begin and well have more on that nay moment. Ill speak with mayor Pete Buttigieg later. Tried to sell Barack Obamas senate seat and also the former nypd officer bernie. Tax fraud, corruption, the very thing that trump claims he cares so much about. Some of the men who are getting bailed out of course have ties to trump. And in two days another person close to the president will be sentenced, and im talking about roger stone. So, is his pardon coming next . Kaitlan collins is live outside the white house. Kaitlan, what are you learning . Reporter the president didnt indicate he went through the typical doj channels where there are vetting procedures before they make a decision like this. Instead he seems to have relied on the advice of friends, business allies, and even political allies as well. Yes, we have commuted the sentence. Reporter the former governor of illinois was serving 14 years after being convicted of trying to sell Barack Obamas seat. He appeared on the apprentice but was fired by trump on the show. Rob, youre fired. Reporter though lately trump has paid attention to efforts by his family to get him on his hands. I watched his wife on television. I dont know him very well. Reporter trump came well to commuted the sentence last summer before being talked about it who warned him about the blow back he faced for intervening in what many saw as the pay to play scheme he campaigned against. It was the same people. Reporter today the president also pardoned Police Commissioner bernie carric who was found guilty of eight felonies including tax fraud and lying to white house officials. Yes, i just pardoned bernie carrick, a man who had good recommendations from a lot of people. Reporter carric appeared on fox news last night. He involved in the case of eddie gallagher, the navy seal accused of war crimes. This was a retaliatory mission by the admiral, an admiral who has overseen the criminal investigation and should be booted from the navy seals. Reporter trump didnt stop there. He also pardoned the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers who was found guilty of attempting to conceal an extortion attempt and michael mill kin, the 1980s investment banker known as the junk bonds king. He paid a big price, a very tough price but done an incredible job. Reporter the president wouldnt say if hes considering leniency for roger stone who is said to be sentenced in just two days. I havent given it any thought. Reporter sources say thats not true and trump has weighed pardoning stone. Im the chief Law Enforcement officer of the country. Reporter now, erin, the president pardoned or commuted the sentence of 11 people in total today. Most of them are white collar criminals. Only two were related to drug offenses. We should note when it comes to michael milken, a lot of that had to do with Steven Mnuchin who favored the pardon. They believed in part this had to do with an eye toward fundraising for the president s campaign. All right. Thank you very much kaitlan. And i want to go out front now to greg brower with me in las vegas, former u. S. Attorney, former fbi assistant director and lawmaker. Gloria bor Gloria Borger also here. So, patrick, what do you make of these pardons . I think theyre an obscenity. I think theres 171,000 people in custody in the federal system. And the notion that somehow mr. Trump and this committee he claims he has looked around and these people, all of whom have personal connections to him or people around him, friends and family, these are the people they came up with that were deserving of clemency. Its a lie. And its disgusting. And its another assault on the rule of law and equal treatment before the law. And this president seems held bent on doing everything he can to destroy the rule of law. I mean, greg, when it comes to the blah goi vich pardon specifically which patrick is talking about, the white house put out in a statement that democrats, dick durbin, jesse jackson, erick holder also looked at it. But when the president himself talked about it, he made it about his enemies and himself. He said it was a prosecution by the same people, comey, fitzpatrick, the same group, being Patrick Fitzgerald. For him, its personal. Really the fact there may be bipartisan support for one of these commutations doesnt take away from the fact it looks political. It looks like granting political favors more than serving justice. Hes saying thats what its about. Every case is different. The jack johnson pardon a few months ago was legitimate. I supported a resolution to we adopted a resolution urging president obama to pardon jack johnson. That didnt happen. There are among these pardons some that might makes sense, but the problem is that overwhelmingly look political. And i should remind you all of these people were convicted and charged by ordinary citizens. They were convicted by juries of ordinary citizens. Judges approved those convictions. And judges imposed those sentences based upon the federal sentencing guidelines that congress adopts. So, it really in a way undermooi undermoounde undermines the whole system of justice by shortcutting and bypassing the system of pardons that the president doesnt have to follow but should. Given the situation were in, when he says its because of personal reasons. Look at michael milken, sources say its clearly aimed at fundraising for the campaign. Thats what theyre saying. This is all personal. Well, it sure seems to be that way. I like to know what the process was. I would like to know if the official process was even considered, much less used. And when you look at all these names, it may be about campaign contributors, but its also about people who know how to flatter the president. His wife was out there talking about the president and what a difficult job he has, how much they like the president. And so its a combination of they really like me and i can really use them and the people who want me to pardon them are people who can be useful to me. So, all of this in the end is about donald trump. Its also about the president being unbound. What are the democrats going to be able to do about this other than complain . Not much. And what are the republicans going to be able to do, or will they want to do anything because theyre all in with donald trump . So, he feels completely liberated after impeachment. And this is what were getting. I mean, patrick, i want to give people a chance to understand why this is different. So, obviously controversial pardons go with the presidency. We hear about them all the time, right . When president clinton pardoned mark rich, he fled to england. He would have had 300 years in jail. His wife was a donor. Clinton pardoned rich on the last day of his presidency. The New York Times called it indefensible. What makes this situation with the Trump Administration and the Justice Department overall different . What makes it worse . Its worse because its bigger. The rich pardon was ridiculous and wrong. But what trumps doing is multiplying that. And hes doing it so crudely, so lofbly. Of all the prisoners, he happens to pick the guy who was on the apprentice. Its insane. Its taking a bad precedent which is the rich pardon and multiplying it. And hes doing it, as i say, for people that know people in the cabinet, for people that are helpful to him on television, who flatter him, who tell him lies like the james comey had anything to do with the prosecution. James comey was not in the government during the years that the prosecution was put together. So, they tell these convenient lies to the president and then he crudely in front of everybody misuses his pardon power. But he is friends he is friends yes. Comey is friends with Patrick Fitzgerald and that may be enough for donald trump, dont you think . Well, thats insane. Just because you know somebody but look, yeah, jim comey has a lot of friends. I served as u. S. Attorneys. A lot of us served as u. S. Attorneys over the years. Is he really going to look for every connection jim comey may have and look at pardoning those defendants . It makes no sense. As i said at the outset, the president has the power to grant pardons for a good reason. I referenced jack johnson. That conviction was decades ago. It was clearly racially motivated. I think there were issues of Domestic Abuse may have been obamas issue with it. But it was clearly illegitimate. When were talking about people who have not served their entire time, when were not talking about decadesold convictions and were talking about what appear to be political pay back sort of pardons, that undermines the integrity of the system. So, then gloria, what happens to roger stone . I think he probably feels a little more comfortable tonight. And if i were rudy giuliani, i would feel a little more comfortable about what the Southern District of new york is looking into tonight because in the end, although the president says he hasnt considered a pardon for roger stone, i dont see how he can think that he hasnt. He has been complaining about his sentence. Hes going to be sentenced on thursday. I dont think the timing of this is any kind of coincidence. Now the president has everybody expecting a pardon eventually for roger stone. And if i were a betting person, youre there in vegas. If i were a betting person, i would bet on a pardon for roger stone. All right. Thank you all three very much. Next the start of democratic town halls just less than an hour away. Bernie sanders will be up first. Now, tonight a new poll shows him pulling away. Is he the undeny able front uner in the race at this point. Plus one of the powerful democrats in congress has still not endorsed the former vice president. Why . Congressman James Clyburn will be out front. Tonight the caucuses could be a repeat of the iowa mess. But great minds are driven to seek out the complex. They see what others dont, from an angle others wont take. They learn that embracing those challenges is what sets them apart. I am justin rose, and we are morgan stanley. Everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. Expedia. And my side super soft . Yes. With the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . 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In the skin of the perineum could occur. Stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection,. Ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction and dont take it if youre on dialysis or have severe kidney problems. Taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Lower a1c and lower risk of a fatal heart attack . On it with jardiance. Ask your doctor about jardiance. Welcome back to a special edition of out front. We are live in las vegas ahead of the cnn town halls. Bernie sanders has been surging in the polls. We have two new National Polls showing him with a 12 point lead over his democratic rivals in 2020. Joe biden at 15 , Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren at 14 , Pete Buttigieg at 13. If those are your double brain injuries, the new npr poll has sanders at 31, boom berg in second there with 19 which qualifies him for his first debate here in las vegas tomorrow. The former new york city mayor is up 15 points since december. David, theres a lot of things in these polls that make you go wow, this is pretty incredible to see it all happening whether it be to see the surge of Michael Bloomberg in one but both. Is it undenyable Bernie Sanders is the clear front runner . He is. Hes in the drivers seat. Its about to experience a new element with Michael Bloomberg on the debate stage. Michael bloomberg will be part of the conversation in the fray, not just on television ads. But there is no denying Bernie Sanders through the power of young voters, liberal voters, and a significant chunk of nonright voters has put anymore in the running. How do you grow beyond . He may not need to. Hes doing it out in front with the double digit leads. His quest to get to milwaukee with a majority. It is stunning when you think about it. Bernie sanders didnt expect to be in this position a couple months ago. He had had a heart attack. Now here he is undeniably the front runner. It shows how little anybody knew or predicted. Yeah, in that period it was unclear where the candidacy was doing. We have seen a steady rise as the front runner of the race. He has made it work in iowa and New Hampshire and even as the electorate shift. He has enough nonwhite to give him a coalition to cross astates. We have seen buttigieg surge in early states but looks less like a front runner nevada and sk k is. Weve seen klobuchar. Elizabeth warren hasnt been able to make it work. Bernie sanders has been able to make it happen in multiple states. And whats been amazing with different people having their moment has been all the daggers come out for that person. We remember the daggers without for Elizabeth Warren and everybody said the nomination is hers. Now sanders in the front and here we go. This is a taste of whats happening. I think senator sanders should also be explaining how hes going to pay for medicare for all. My friend senator sanders doesnt seem to think it matters how much things cost, that theres a gap of 25 trillion in his plan which is bigger than the whole u. S. Economy. Bernie acknowledges he doesnt even know how much the program is going to cost. That was those were the daggers were Elizabeth Warren, now theyre for Bernie Sanders. I would note joe biden has been making this argument against Bernie Sanders since last summer. Excuse me. Since last july. We made this argument on our debate stage last july in detroit. Hillary clinton tried to use the arguments against price tags against Bernie Sanders but emerged with the nomination. This notion of how are you going to pay for the plan, it habit stuck to him. Maybe were in a different time. Voters minds are trained now that were in the elect tral contest its not the year before. I would argue that weve heard this argument against Bernie Sanders. Hes been answering that question whether satisfactorily or not for years. And i think that if theyre really looking for daggers to start taking a piece of hide out of him, i dont know that thats going to be the final answer. Now Michael Bloomberg is going to be on the debate stage, both debate stages. Now we get to find all the things he said. Now, he is trumpian in some ways, right . Says what he thinks. Now these clips start to surface. Our file uncovered this clip of bloomberg talking about Bernie Sanders and his supporters just a few years ago. Democratic socialism and the young people i dont mean to knock young people. I wish i was one again. But young people listen to donald trump to Bernie Sanders and they said, yeah, democratic. Thats good. Socialism. Yeah, thats that social media stuff. And were going to hear a lot more of this. Yeah. I mean, weve seen this even in the last week, the redlining comments, the comments about transgender individuals. This will come on and on. Trans gender, referring to them as it. Exactly. And polls show him rising. Its going to be difficult however is his vast amount of resources allowing him to define himself uniquely in these super tuesday states. Hes playing a game unto himself. Hes told the voters as a thinker that can go up against trump and has been able to saturate that message. The candidates have to redefine him and make him someone voters are scared about. Thats going to be a difficult task. For months now theyve seen the bloomberg ads and created a story in their head. Thank you both very much. Dont miss our democratic president ial town halls tonight on cnn. Anderson is going to kick it off at 8 00 with Bernie Sanders. Ill moderate with Pete Buttigieg at 9 00. Then Amy Klobuchar at 10 00. Pete buttigieg sounding the alarm when it comes to defeating trump. I think if the socialist Bernie Sanders was the nomination, trump will beat him. I share that concern. Plus tom steyer admits the next two contests may be make or break for his campaign. So, how confident is he that he can make it here in nevada and South Carolina . When you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. So you can bring your vision to lif. For small prices, you can build big dreams. Spend less. Get way more. Shop everything home at wayfair toda. [ fastpaced drumming ] welcome back to a special edition of out front. We are live f