the first pardon went to arizona sheriff arpaio.week makes another thing clear, those who push back are no longer in place. instead from his ag to treasury secretary and every post in between potus surrounded himself with those that make his protection their primary purpose. so that's why we call it out. now the main question is whether or not the president is abusing his powers. this time on social media in an attack of an opponent. it's a great debate on a very controversial new post, next. (speaking in foreign language) i'm sorry i don't understand... ♪ help! i need somebody ♪ help! not just anybody ♪ help! you know i need someone it's easy to move forward when you're ready for what comes next. at fidelity, we make sure you have a clear plan to cover the essentials in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. and on the way, you'll get timely investment help to keep you on the right track, without the unnecessary fees you might expect from so many financial firms. because when you have a partner who gives you clarity

put this into your way that is what we're talking about here goes all the way back to sheriff joe arpaio, who got the very first pardon. >> he's breaking all these rules, flaunting tradition and rules and what not, but he keeps up that twitter feed and keeps throwing red may to remember, he came to dream the swamp and he's kwebt can'ting the swamp with our existing institutions. he also using it as are the wreck to built story. another area ecan't dismiss is the public and they look himself i guess the question is who is he shooting at and is it illegal? take a listen to an exchange here with senator cory booker on all of this pad he said him if he were sent to jail, that he would pardon him. your reaction to that, that should shake every american and that he will pardon you. again, we're sitting in newark where kids are doing things, and nobody's pardoning them. >> i agree with my fellow political scientist fundamentally. i think what's so dangerous is that the base and members of this administration and far too many members of the republican party are fine with letting donald trump say

arpaio, the sheriff who disobeyed a court in an immigration matter. it was a misdemeanor, but still he pardoned him. this is real, this isn't talk. this isn't a rabbit hole. it matters and it leads into a potential contagion for us, what if this president decides that rules just don't apply to him and he can do it anyway and he gets a group of apologists around him. that's what we have to watch for, that's why it must be called out. and that's why i do it tonight. thank you for watching, "cnn tonight" with d. lemon starts right now. >> hey, chris. >> hey, don. >> don't you think he's already decided or thinks he's above the law if he's trying to to do these things and send undocumented immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities. >> i think this president -- >> and telling people reportedly to break the law and he has their back. >> i agree with you on the facts, obviously. what is the motivation? i'm not going to duck it by saying i can't know the heart of a man. >> right. >> i will say this. i think that the president lacks a certain amount of sophis

what we're talking about here, marchly on the issue of immigration, goes ultraway back to sheriff arpaio. >> right. a very key piece here is the bully pulpit that he uses. if he's breaking these rules, flaunlting tradition and rules. what he's doing, he keeps up the twitter feed and he keeps throwing red meat to the base. he has this core base of folks who actually like what he's doing. remember, he came to drain the swamp. he's also using it as rhetoric to bolster him going into re-election. so another area that we can't dismiss is the public at large. the 35 to 39% that is going to be with him no matter what. and they like his boldness. they like that he's authentic. they like that he shoots from the hip. he's leveraging that even to the detriment of our democracy. >> and he may shoot from the hip. the question is, who is he shooting at? is it illegal? take a listen to an exchange here with senator kory book order. >> he told the commissioner of customs and border protection, if he were sent to jail, as a result of blocking those migrants and contravention to u.s. law, that he would pa

arpaio, the sheriff who disobeyed a court in an immigration matter.till he pardoned him. this is real, this isn't talk. this isn't a rabbit hole. it matters and it leads into a potential contagion for us, what if this president decides that rules just don't apply to him and he can do it anyway and he gets a group of apologists around him. that's what we have to watch for, that's why it must be called out. and that's why i do it tonight. thank you for watching, "cnn tonight" with d. lemon starts right now. >> hey, chris. >> hey, don. >> don't you think he's already decided or thinks he's above the law if he's trying to to do these things and send undocumented immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities. >> i think this president -- >> and telling people reportedly to break the law and he has their back. >> i agree with you on the facts, obviously. what is the motivation? i'm not going to duck it by saying i can't know the heart of a man. >> right. >> i will say this. i think that the president lacks a certain amount of sophistication when it comes to ho

i mean, remember, this is a president that's already pardoned sheriff joe arpaio for violating immigration laws. what happens to the rule of law if in fact the president openly says i will pardon you if you ignore the law. closing the border may be the bridge too far for the republicans in the senate but this is really one of those moments where people in the senate, mitch mcconnell have to make it very very clear that no, if you start abusing the pardon authority to violate constitutional rights or federal law, that's too far, we're not with you on this. >> it this for helping trump politically in the next election or hurting him, this whole she bang we're talking about. >> i think the idea is if you're looking at his core base which is really what the president and sources tell me he is focussed on, this is helping him. it's something simple that people understand, this idea that i'm going to punish the democrats by letting you see the migrants walk around san francisco but i think the important thing is to talk about the pardon issue, i think about back to james comey and where the pres

that was the case when president trump pardoned joe arpaio on a friday night, heading into a hurricaneif you remember. and that was the case when president bush pardoned six people for iran/contra on christmas eve in '92. people knew what the move was, but that was the timing because that stuff does work. now that was ultimately president bush's call, a call that he was advised on by then attorney general bill barr. now timing is something that mr. barr still lawfully controls. as for how much he redacts, that may not be up to him alone. there is a bipartisan push, news breaking today that the leaders telephone house intel committee, adam schiff and devin nunes who sparred in the past are together demanding barr provide all of mueller's materials and a briefing from mueller and his team that is interesting. so what is mueller up to? we know barr has been name-checking him and saying him and his team are involved in redactments. we haven't as is typical heard much from mueller himself. but we have heard that mule wizard heading into his office again, a sign that he is working, or meetin