joining me now with their reaction, david corn, and levy farc is former secretary of defense. at do you make of it? >> i was surprised and i wonder if it has anything to do with the tweet that wikileaks put out, saying if he granted clemency to chelsea manning, julian assange would agree to be extradited to the united states. i don't think that's going to happen. i think what motivated him is the harsh treatment chelsea manning has gotten after being held in the brig. >> i think it's an act of mercy. i think she's been cracking up in prison. i think it's been a pretty rough go for her there. and i think that he's getting a lot of pressure on the left to do something. i think that's why he did it. >> yeah, i think as an act of compassion, i agree with that. but important to note, he didn't pardon here. >> tell the difference. >> commutation is basically saying, you're not going to have to serve out the rest of your sentence. you're still guilty, but you don't have to sit in jail. i'm letting you go. >> and why is that important? why does he want to say that she is guilty? >> so