and of course you have the president's supporters, duncan hunter, chris collins. chris collins is one of the first members of congress to support the president in public. >> duncan hunter as well. >> and duncan hunter, right, at a time when he was not the favored candidate. chris collins, as pamela mentioned, according to prosecutors, committed some of his crimes while on white house grounds. i mean that is stunning for the president to turn around. he just finally showed up to prison in october, and he's going to be out. duncan hunter, who misused his campaign funds, he and his wife were accused of, accused of that, he wasn't supposed to show up until january. he's not going to serve any time in prison. now remember, kate, i talked to the prosecutor who prosecuted duncan hunter just a few weeks ago and he told me one reason why he stuck around as long as he did, he was supposed to retire from the justice department earlier this year. he stuck around simply because he was fearful that trump was going to intervene and try to do something in his case as he did with

and chris collins of up state new york, the first trump supporter in congress who pleaded to lying to the fbi and conspiring to commit securities fraud. he was the one who as a guest at the annual congressional picnic summer of 2017 was caught on camera phoning insider stock tips to his son from the south lawn of the white house according to the feds. also on this initial pardon list four military contractors who worked for blackwater and were all convicted of killing 14 unarmed iraqi civilians in

chris collins was pardoned by president trump tonight for all of those crimes, although interestingly, trump did not pardon chris collins' son who was convicted alongside his father for his role in the fraud scheme. perhaps that was just an oversight. perhaps that will be in the next wave of trump pardons. trump also pardoned tonight republican congressman duncan hunter. congressman hunter pled guilty to misuse of campaign funds after investigation turned up truly impressive, almost lurid capacity for spending campaign money that did not belong to him, spending it on everything from a commercial airplane ticket for his pet rabbit to weekends away with his many, many mistresses to round after round after round of shots, large enough liquor bills that would put a large sized poorly behaved fraternity to shame, and he was just one corrupt member of congress spending money that was not his. but he was a trump supporting corrupt member of congress, so despite his guilty plea on corruption charges, congressman duncan hunter has now been pardoned. president trump also tonight pardoned a man

two of the former members of the congress who were pardoned last night, chris collins and duncan hurter were early supporters of his presidential bid. we saw this going all the way back to his first pardon of his presidency when he pardoned the controversial arizona sheriff joe arpaio who was convicted of contempt in his efforts towards cracking down against illegal immigration. he was a supporter of the president. that's a message the president is giving here, if you are loyal to me i will reward you with the powers of my presidency, which is a pretty swampy message to be conveying on his way out. >> indeed. i think chris collins and duncan hunter literally were the very first two house members to endorse donald trump. john harwood, you know from your days in financial reports, the phrase return on investment, roi, that's a pretty big roi for those endorsements of two members of congress. there is roi on the russia investigation and silence as well. >> no question about it. there was never the slightest bit of sincerity or merit to the president saying i'm going to drain the swamp. the

still ahead, president trump issues 15 pardons including former congressman, duncan hunter and chris collins. >>> it looks like there won't be any commercial crab for christmas, why bay area crab fishermen might not venture out when the season begins tomorrow. to be honest...a little dust? it never bothered me. until i found out what it actually was. dust mite droppings? ewww. dead skin cells? gross! so now, i grab my swiffer heavy duty sweeper and dusters. dusters extends to 6 feet to reach way up high... to grab, trap and lock away gross dust. nice! for dust on my floors, i switch to sweeper. the heavy duty cloths reach deep in grooves to grab, trap and lock dust bunnies... no matter where they hide. no more heebie jeebies. phhhhew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. it inspired me to become a doctor. then covid hit. no one has ever seen anything like covid. you feel hopeless. my best friend's father died of covid-19. then my father caught it. wearing a mask, washing your hands. sacrifice those things now. you have the power to protect the ones you love. to your friends... you

on the list of 20, duncan hunter and chris collins have been pardoned. collins was the first to endorse then candidate president trump. he reported guilty for misallocating funds. also, george papadopolous. also four military contractors that were brought to justice for open ifiring and indiscriminanty firing on iraqis, killing a boy. a law prover joining us now, pardons appeared, in many cases, to have bypassed the traditional justice review process. half of the cases did not meet the department's standards. it reflected his long standing position. >> there is an office of parton, the way it normally works is people apply for clemency, it goes through a review and then they make a recommendation to the white house. the president doesn't have to go along with the recommendation because it gives him and only him the authority to make these decisions about pardons, but generally the spols that someone should be having five years, having served their sentence, express remorse rather than just vindication. and papadopulous has never expressed remorse for wha

chris collins, sentenced to 26 months for insider trading. lying to investigators. and he was doing that trading while in congress. he gets one, too. why? they were some of his earliest backers. that's not law and order. he commuted the sentence of steve stocker. also pardoned, four blackwater guards involved in deadly shootings of iraqi civilians. the pardons, that's about what trump is about in terms of character or lack thereof. if you're good to him, nothing else matters. but we have the perfect guest to speak about what is happening with the relief bill, and what could come next. the chair of the house intelligence committee, congressman adam schiff. good to have you back in a short window. thank you for responding to the need of the news tonight. >> you bet. good to be with you again. >> what do you think about this? do you believe that this is just an ugly bluff, or do you believe this is a moment where trump can say to these guys, i want to go out looking good. change the amount. >> it's hard to well. i think we're seeing a real descent in the president's ab

chris collins and duncan hunter. >> i had no idea what was out there and this came through. >> hunter was set to report to prison in january. collins was convicted of insider trading charges and was already behind bars. former blackwater privacy greedy contractors were also pardoned. the four men were convicted in 2014 after a shooting in baghdad left many iraq he is dead. speaker pelosi said late today that the house will be voting oh of overwriting the president's veto. we are hearing from senate republicans saying they will do the same once it reaches their chamber but this is also a bill that has been passed. it's likely the president has an uphill battle here. >> bret: the political implications for the georgia runoff we have to factor in asff well. the president also tonight warning iran on twitter, what do we know about this? >> this was an incident over the weekend when multiple rockets landed in baghdad's green zone. no americans were heard which io the good news but the president is blaming iran for this and we are hearing from the iraqi military that they believe it was oth

also in apartments two early supporters of the president, for republican congressman chris collins and duncan hunter. >> i had no idea what was out there conduit this came through. >> hunter was set to report to prison in january after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds for personal expenses. collins was convicted of insider trading charges and was already behind bars. blackwater private security contractors were also pardon. the members convicted in 2014 after shooting left 17 iraqis dead. nancy pelosi said late today the house is going to be meeting monday to override the president's veto. we are hearing from senate republicans that indicated will do the same once it reachedes their chamber but this is a bill that passed vetoproof majorities in both chambers, the president has an uphill battle here. >> the political implications for the georgia runoff you have to factor in as well. the president warning iran on twitter. what do we know about this? >> an incident over the weekend when multiple rockets landed in baghdad's green zone. no americans were hurt, that was the good ne

chris collins, he pled guilty. and ex california lawmaker duncan hunter who used campaign funds for personal expenses and four government contractors for black water worldwide. they were serving lengthy sentences for a 2007 shooting in baghdad that killed more than a dozen iraqi civilians. >>> with more coronavirus vaccines shipped out nationwide, president-elect joe biden is urging caution. during a speech yesterday, he said we are still far away from defeating the coronavirus. >> our darkest days and the battle against covid are ahead of us, not behind us. we need to prepare ourselves to steal our spines. as frustrating ass it to hear, it is going to take patience, persistence, and determination to beat this virus. >> his administration will have a new mask requirement, develop strategy for testing and increase supply gear for front line workers. >> states are trying to decide which group should next receive the vaccine. >> week two with more than 600,000 vaccines administers, including to dr. anthony fauci today

former congressman chris collins and duncan hunter. >> i had no idea what was happening. it just came through. >> hunter set to report to prison in january after pleading guilty to using miss using campaign money. inside trader charges and behind bars. former blackwater private security contractors are also parking. the four man convicted in 2014 after shooting baghdad sour square left them dead. speaker pelosi said late today the house will be meeting on monday with a vote to override the president's veto. we are hearing from senate republicans that indicate they will do the same ones that reach as chamber, but this is also a bell that had passed by the majority in both chambers. bret, it is looking likely it is an uphill battle for the president, bret. >> bret: the political implications for the georgia runoff factor in as well. mark, the president might warning iran on twitter. what do we know about this? >> it has been an incident over the weekend where multiple rockets landed in baghdad's green zone. no one was hurt, that is the good news but the president is blaming

also on the list, two early supporters, chris collins and duncan hunter. 11 months earlier this year for misuse of more than $200,000 in campaign funds will not serve any time behind bars and collins sent to prison october of this year for insider trading, activity he engaged in while on white house grounds and there are other controversial names on the list such as four black water guards. the massacre of iraqi civilians including one nicolas slaten sentenced to life in prison. those are key names. there are two former border patrol agents who were sentenced to prison in 2009 for shooting an undocumented immigrant. they were heralded as heros on right wing media at the time. nearly half of the pardons are people who are abdicated by trump earlier. we expect a flurry of more pardons before the president's term ends. >> pamela brown, thanks for that. >>> the president not just busy with pardons but also apparently immunity deals. cnn has learned the trump administration is considering granting saudi prince mohamed bin salman immunity. a top saudi intelligen

duncan hunter, who pled guilty to misusing campaign funds, and chris collins who pled guilty to committing securities fraud and lying to the fbi. trump also undoing convictions from the mueller investigation, pardoning george papadopoulos, the former campaign aide who pled guilty for lying to the fbi about his contacts with russian-linked officials and alex van der zwaan, also convicted for lying to investigators. also receiving clemency, four blackwater private security operatives, convicted of massacring 14 unarmed iraqi civilians, including children while working for iraq for the security firm in 2007. notab notably blackwater is owned by erick prince, a major trump donor, betsy devos' brother. the second bombshell. >> it really is a disgrace. >> reporter: trump threatening to veto much-needed coronavirus aid from congress. >> the president has indicated his intent to sign the bill. >> reporter: trump blindsiding white house aides and lawmakers in both parties by tweeting a video blasting a long-fought bipartisan bill to fund the government and deliver aid to workers nationwide. >> it's

individuals you mentioned some of the highest profile bold faced names from this list, among them chris collins duncan hunter, a former congressman from new york in california who pled guilty to securities fraud and misusing campaign funds and then you also have those two former advisers to the trump campaign, george papadopoulos, who was a foreign policy advisor to the campaign. and alex vanderjan, who was a former associate of paul manafort, the former campaign manager. both of them lied to special counsel robert mueller and notably in this release, shep, the president is calling those process related crimes in an attempt to dilute the seriousness of them. it is a very long list it includes many individuals that were advocated for on behalf of many members of congress, former members of congress and even some sitting election officials there's a lot to go through, but certainly not unexpected in the final weeks of his presidency, shep >> you know, the two members of congress were not convicted of process crimes at all. in fact, they were the first two members of congress to endorse the presid

chris: collin is talking about his athletic abilities. his records are astonishing.the first person to walk across antartica solo and rowing across the world's most treacherous waters. do you ever think in the middle of one of these challenges, ex depictions, what the hell am i doing? >> all the time. all the time. i definitely say like whose idea was this anyways. oh, o wait, it was my idea. >> this is my second home. chris: vanilla bean's second home is her famed hat shop, a special part of washington for 40 years. why do you think hats are important for women? >> because it completes the outfit. chris: her creations are beautiful and entr intricate. no two are alike. what's a proper church hat. >> any hat, not too fancy. >> i've always wanted to just be a soldier and not a woman soldier. many times we find when you go to other museums, we're almost a foot dings notnote in story lin. chris: phyllis wilson is trying to change that, at the women in military service for america memorial at arlington national cemetery. opened in 1997, the museum is built into arlington

en la lista figura su ex asistente de campaÑa y los ex congresistas duncan hunter y chris collins tambiÉnentes de la patrulla fronteriza que fueron condenados por disparar mortalmente contra un traficante de drogas en la frontera en el aÑo 2006. y del presidente donald trump al presidente el subsecretario cardona actualmente se desempeÑa como comisionado de educaciÓn y 100 senado lo confirma serÍa una de sus primeras tareas,serÍa ayudar a joe biden a cumplir con el objetivo. se han asegurado de que los estudiantes tengan mÁs herramientas para el aprendizaje remoto. y el hijo de inmigrantes mexicanos graduado de abogados en la universidad de stanford y procurador de california ahora es el nominado por el presidente electo joe biden como prÓximo secretario de salud. de ser asÍ sería el primer hispano en ocupar el puesto. el seÑor becerra hablÓ en exclusiva esta misma maÑana con marÍa antonieta en "despierta amÉrica". vamos a escuchar lo que dijo. >> le quita el sueÑo estar nominado y ser secretario de salud en tiempos de pandemia le quita el sueÑo? >> no, como cualquier otro trabajo es un r

duncan hunter, chris collins. this wasn't about mueller. these guys broke the law and he just forgives it. why? because he can. he's got four weeks left. what else is he telling people right now. do this for me. do that for me. what? he can get them out of anything. what does this suggest about what could come next? ♪ may your holidays glow bright and all your dreams take flight. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedes-benz winter event. if you have type 2 diabetes and risks for heart disease, you could land in the hospital with heart failure. for people like you, farxiga does more than lower a1c. farxiga also helps prevent hospitalization for heart failure. do not take if allergic to farxiga. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. stop taking and seek medical help right away. tell your doctor right away if you have red color in urine, or pain while you urinate, or a genital area infection, since a rare but serious gen

and former new york congressman chris collins had been serving a 26-month prison sentence since october. last year collins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of making a false statement. but those all pale in comparison to the sickening, disgusting, pardon of four convicted war criminals. donald trump pardoned four blackwater contractors who were convicted by a federal jury in 2014 after a lengthy trial that saw some 30 witnesses travel from iraq to testify against them. prosecutors accused the men of illegally unleashing, quote, powerful sniper fire, machine guns, and grenade launchers on innocent men, women, and children. according to prosecutors, the four men were among serve blackwater employees who opened fire in the nisour square traffic circle in baghdad. they killed 17 people. those 17 people were civilians. they weren't involved in any war. an fbi investigation found that 14 of those deaths were unjustified. the white house said their pardons were supported by pete hegseth, the conservative fox news host who's an ally of trump's.

president trump announcing 50 new pardons tonight they include george papadopoulos, duncan hunter and chris collins. for blackwater guards who were involved in the shooting of iraqi citizens, and the dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in jail. this after pleading guilty to lying to investigators. presidential pardons are final and are not subject to review. also breaking right now, the president is asking for changes to the $900 billion cove vic covid really package that was passed last night. he asked congress to provide higher stimulus to americans and small businesses. >> the bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. it really is, a disgrace. for example, among the more than 5000 pages in this bill, which nobody in congress has red because of its length and complexity is called the covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with covid.>> all of this is just happening right now, we are waiting to get word on whether congress would or has time to alter the bill before going on break. democrats were already talking about a bigger bill when

former new york representative, chris collins, was pardoned after pleading guilty to securities fraud. also receiving pardons to men convicted of lying to the fbi. and special counsel, robert mueller's russia investigation, the president also pardoned four private security contractors convicted in the massacre of innocent civilians in iraq. >>> history was made in california today, secretary of state alex padilla will replace vice president-elect, kamala harris, in the u.s. senate. kpix 5 reported joe vazquez explains the high profile pic. >> are you serious? >> this is the official-- this is it brother. >> reporter: alex padilla gets emotional, as he recognizes what this means for his parents, immigrants from mexico. >> i am honored, and i am humbled because of that. >> reporter: with the governor's appointment, the former secretary of state becomes the first latino u.s. senator from california ever. >> i can't tell you how many pancakes my dad flipped, or eggs he scrambled. trying to provide for us in the many, many years, and my mom cleaning houses doing the same thing. >> yeah, hi

chris collins of new york was the first member of congress to endorse trump to be president. collins was sentenced to 2 years and 2 months in federal prison. that's after admitting that he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses after he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed. also pardoned pardon was george papadopoulos he is best known for playing a key role in the years long investigation into russian election interference. he was sentenced to 14 days and federal lockup and one year of supervised release in september of 2018 that's for lying to investigators in the russia probe. well the pre christmas message from president elect joe biden he covered several issues, including the recent cyber attack and federal agencies and also the surging pandemic the fate of the stimulus bill passed by the senate is still unclear. but as dean reynolds reports biden has his sights set on a much larger relief package that he will try to get approved once he takes office. one thing i promise you. but leadership during this crisis. i'm

among those given a little get out of jail free card, controversial congressmen chris collins and duncan hunter, both convicted on corruption charges and have been outspoken supporters of the president. trump is also granting a full pardon to two of those charged in connection with robert mueller's special counsel investigation. >> i found myself all of a sudden pinned between the department of justice and the sitting president. >> reporter: former campaign aide george papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi amid the russia investigation. dutch lawyer alex van der zwaan who also admitted to lying to mueller was pardoned as well. meanwhile, four members of the blackwater security company were pardoned after they were charged with committing atrocities in iraq. blackwater was a company founded by erik prince, a trump supporter and the brother of education secretary betsy devos. and back to that coronavirus relief bill, it passed with overwhelming support in both the house and the senate, so congress could override trump's veto. however, democrats are indicating they might take trum

three former republican members of congress were pardoned, steve stockman, chris collins, and duncanter, who was scheduled to begin a prison term. and also pardoned, four gardens who opened fire on civilians in baghdad, iraq, killing 14 and wounding 17. as for the covid relief bill, both houses of congress passed it overwhelming. and now the question is whether congress will dare the president to veto the bill. chip >> o'donnell: tonight, states are deciding who should get the next wave of covid vaccines, sparking the debate over which groups should receive priority. for example, should it be corrections officers or teachers? cbs' adriana diaz continues our series, "vaccinating america." >> reporter: it's week two with more than 600,000 vaccines administered, including to dr. anthony fauci today. ( applause ) ( applause ) the c.d.c. recommends the next group should be those 75 and older, and frontline essential workers. but that's 49 million people, and so far just under five million doses have been delivered. do you feel like you're almost in competition with other essential workers

pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds, and the first congressman to back trump, new york's chris collins, he pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi and conspiring to commit securities fraud in 2017. you might remember, collins was caught on camera on the white house south lawn during an event giving insider stock tips to his son. the president also pardoned four military contractors who worked for blackwater, all convicted of killing 14 unarmed iraqi civilians in 2007. the president also pardoning a dentist accused of health care fraud and a moonshiner >> using that power before he has to return it chris, thank you >>> we now know who will fill the senate seat vacated by kamala harris has she steps into the vice presidency seat governor gavin newsom chose california secretary of state alex padilla and chose this video of the moment padilla found out. >> you serious >> this is the official -- this is the ask, brother. >> i'm honored, man. and i'm humbled. >> clearly, an emotional moment for padilla, who will serve as the first latino senator to represent california >>> out of the bubble and b

former republican congressmen convicted of corruption got clemency duncan hunter of california and chris collins of new yor were pardoned. steve stockman of texas got his sentence commuted full pardons went to four former blackwater security guards convicted in the deaths of 17 people, including civilians at a busy intersection in baghdad in 2007. the white house said there were problems with the prosecution at their trial a lawyer for some of the iraqi families tweeted a photo of the youngest victim today a 9-year-old boy and said, quote, trump pardoned his killers white house officials say more pardons are coming before the president leaves office pete williams, nbc news, washington. >>> terrifying moments today when an explosion rocked a high-rise in baltimore. stephanie gosk now with the heart pounding rescue. >> reporter: a high flying drama unfolding over the streets of baltimore this morning, an explosion at the baltimore gas and electric building rocked downtown, partially collapsing the roof. >> we have victims on the roof i have at least one victim down. >> reporter: window washers wer

full and unconditional pardons for two congressmen who have had been forced to resign, including chris collins of new york, who was the first member of congress to endorse trump's first presidential campaign. he is currently serving a 26-month prison sentence for insider trader. and former representative duncan hunter of california, another trump supporter who had pleaded guilty of misusing campaign funds. the president is also granting a full pardon to two of those charged in connection with robert mueller's special counsel investigation. george papadopoulos and alex vander swan. also on the list, four members of the blackwater company committed of atrocities in iraq. this is the first big group of pardons since the election, but it won't be the last. i expect we'll see many more pardons between now and january 20th. david? >> jon karl reporting tonight. jon, thank you. >>> we're going to move onto other news this tuesday night and to the case and the images tonight. the 71-year-old black man ordered out of his south carolina home by police, naked and at gunpoint. it turns out police were act

been convicted by rob mueller, to reward his cronies, straight-up cooks like duncan hunter, and chris collinse whose only credential for a pardon has loyal supporters of the president. and they contractors convicted of murdering civilians, he pardoned because they've solely being a right-wing cause celeb. that's not what the power is about. i'm looking at paul manafort, rio rio, i'm lo rudy giuliani, i'm looking at his family members, maybe even looking at pardoning himself. >>> i have a guy next hour who these blackwater pardons are quite personal for. when bill barr was first announced as attorney general to replace matthew whitaker, you sir gave barr the benefit of the doubt. we dug out the tape, from december 6th, 2018. roll it. >> certainly 27d be an upgrade on matthew whitaker. i served under attorneys general for both democratic and republican administrations. you want somebody who is confidence, ser and respected. by all accounts william barr is all of those things. he has a previous working relationship with robert mueller. that's the biggest question will be in front of any attorney

chris collins and duncan hunter who was sentenced to 11 months earlier this year for misuse of more than $200 thurks in campaign funds will not serve any time behind bars with his pardon. collins was sent to prison for insider trading, activity he enbeginninged in. the massacre of iraqi civilians, including one, nicolas slaten and sentenced to life in prison. there were two border patrol agents as they were heralded as meade yes at the time. nearly half of the pardons are nonviolent drug offenders. we have 20 pardons and more expected. pamela brown, cnn, washington. >>> cnn legal analyst ellie hoenig said this is all constitutional under the broad pardon powers of the president but that doesn't make it right. >> these pardons fall into three groups. the first is some of the remaj defendants from the muller investigation, to me that's the least offensive. i think they're unjust but the bigger problem is the members of congress. you get on to convicted war criminals. people convicted by a jury through our due process, our trial process of murdering civilians. if that's not an injustice, i

hun, who was convicted of misusing nearly a quarter of a million dollars of campaign funds, and chris collins, the first lawmaker to endorse trump, who pled guilty to securities on charges. and four men who worked with blackwater. >> who ties them together is corruption. it is corruption. he's literally burning down the house of justice as he walks out the door. >> reporter: and, wolf, the -- forgive me -- gop official is telling my colleague jake tapper that the reason why the president is threatening to upend this coronavirus relief legislation has nothing to do with the substance of the legislation itself. instead, this republican official saying this is about senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and john thune, another top republican, the facts that they have acknowledged joe biden as president-elect, this official telling jake tapper, his ego always comes first as it relates to the president. wolf? >> jeremy, stay with us. i want to bring in phil mattingly and sun, these negotiations have been going on for months and months, but could president trump simply blow all this up at this las

what do you say about this wave of pardons, duncan collins, steve stockman, chris collins who were involvedacre in iraq. what is your thought about this? >> well, they've run down the same thread, absolutely, and the reason is because we understand that the pardon power is absolute by presidents, but all-americans understand it is an act of mercy for someone who is believing or knowing that they are repenting or they are seeking forgiveness or their acts were such that they have done things to warrant to be pardoned. we see in blatant colors, a breach of law, a sulking individual who comes now just to take center stage to do things no other president has ever done in the history of the united states. this litany of pardons and more to come is disastrous of people understanding in america who is languishing in prison is a high power, sacred power, done out of sheer mercy and forgiveness where someone offers their own repentan repentance. none of that has happened. i will say if you look at them in the whole, the president ha

and three former congressmen, chris collins and steve stockman. who is next?g us is the special counsel during the watergate investigation and also an msnbc contributor. great to see you, jill. after the first round on tuesday, you warned -- you said watch for the worst. what do you think may be coming next? >> first of all, good morning and merry christmas. and i expect much worse. first of all, president trump has given new meaning to family and friends and i expect many more family members and friends because that seems to be the biggest group of people. he pardons those who he has a personal relationship with. he pardons those he can use to undo the mueller investigation and let's put it frankly, if this had happened during watergate i would have been distraught. it means it was useless to have appointed a special prosecutor. we cannot allow the president to up do the results of the investigation. he's pardoning the corrupt congressmen. remember the first pardon was sheriff joe arpaio who had violated the law. >> jill, what are the consequences here? as yo

money for personal expenses, he was just weeks away from beginning an 11 month prison sentence chris collins of new york was also pardoned he was the first member of congress to endorse trump to be president. >>he was sentenced to 2 years and 2 months in federal prison. after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses. when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company that fail also part tonight george papadopoulos he is best known for playing a key role in the years long investigation into russian election interference. he was sentenced to 14 days in federal lockup and one year of supervised release in september of 2018 for lying to investigators into the russia probe. >>we'll take a look at this video an avalanche on a colorado mountain on saturday. it was one of more than 130 reported over the weekend officials now warning of an increased risk of an tell at glance just due to the weak us snowpack since 2012 in. >>colorado's mountain ranges in the sierra we have a couple of storms coming to california. that's good news chief meteorologist

and chris collins of up state new york, the first trump supporter in congress who pleaded to lying to the fbi and conspiring to commit securities fraud. he was the one who as a guest at the annual congressional picnic summer of 2017 was caught on camera phoning insider stock tips to his son from the south lawn of the white house according to the feds. also on this initial pardon list four military contractors who worked for blackwater and were all convicted of killing 14 unarmed iraqi civilians in baghdad in '07. the dead included two children. just minutes after those pardons were announced trump then posted a video in which he seemed to threaten to veto the massive $900 billion covid relief bill that congress just passed 24 hours ago. >> throughout the summer democrats cruelly blocked covid relief legislation in an effort to advance their extreme left wing agenda and influence the election. the bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. it really is a disgrace. it's called the covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with covid.

duncan hunter, who was convicted of misusing nearly a quarter million dollars in campaign funds and chris collins, the first lawmaker to endorse trump who pleaded guilty to securities fraud, trump also pardoning four blackwater guards after killing 17 people at a baghdad traffic circle in 2007. >> when you look through all of them, what ties them together is corruption. it is corruption. he's literally burning down a house of justice as he walks out the door. >> reporter: and wolf, today marks attorney general's bill barr's last day in office nearly two years after he was confirmed as president trump's attorney general. he was one of the most loyal cabinet members to president trump, but their relationship soured over recent months, over efforts to contest the 2020 election. now bill barr will be succeeded by the deputy attorney general rosen. he faces a number of issues with the president now as the president considers appointing special counsels to investigate voter fraud as well as matters relating to joe biden's son, hunter biden, wolf. >> we'll see what rosen does over the next 28 days until

chris collins was serving a sentence for insider trading saving over $800,000 in losses when he learned a trial failed and george papadopoulos lied about contacts with the russian government in the 2016 campaign. >>> governor newsom picked alex padilla to fill u.s. senator kamala harris' senate seat. the first latino to represent california in the senate. the son of a cook and house cleaner. >> i'm honored, man and i'm humbled because of this. i can't tell you how many pancakes my dad flipped or eggs he scrambled to try to provide for us for the many, many years and my mom cleaning houses, doing the same thing. >> very meaningful and emotional moment for him. vice president elect harris offered congratulations over twitter saying alex and i long served the people of california together and i know he'll continue fighting for the state as california's first latino senator however, san francisco mayor london breed was not pleased with the pick says it's a loss for black women. politico reporter carla explains. >> this is a very big day for latinos in california but there are some broken he

chris collins and duncan hunter were the first house members to back then-candidate trump. and they pleaded guilty, respectively, in other worto ing and illegal use of campaign funds. and then there were the four blackwater guards who were convicted for their roles in the massacre of unarmed iraqis that included women and children in 2007. black water was run at the time by erik prince, a key trump supporter and brother of trump's education secretary, betsy devos. but let's go back to the president's threat to torpedo the $900 billion covid relief bill. that taped and tweeted message from the president was a surprise to many of his own aides. cnn's john harwood is at the white house. and john, it appears that this video caught even the president's closest advisers offguard with only chief of staff mark meadows knowing about it. >> that's right, bianna. and the president is choking, psychologically, on his defeat to such an extent that he's just thrashing around, all normal processes of government have been broken down in this white house. you had a case where the white hous

three republican members of congress also received a pardon, duncan hunter of california, chris collinsf new york and steve scott of texas. also on the list, four security guards from blackwater, the private military party founded with eric rinse. they received full pardons for their role in killing more than one dozen iraqis including two children. for triggering that massacre it ended up with machine launchers and grenade launchers used on unarmed iraqis. in another move, president trump blasted the bipartisan covid relief bill in a twitter post. calling for more stimulus checks for americans and glimplying th he's going to remain president past january. >> i'm asking congress to end this bill and increased ridiculously low $600 to $1200 or $4,000 for a couple. i'm also to get rid of the necessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a covid relief package and maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done. >> that disjointed message came as a shock to many of trump's own aides including those o

chris collins congressman from new york. george papadopoulos. seems clear that the president has rolled out the pardons as parts of what he's been saying he was going to do for a while. we don't know at this point if there's going to be any sort of push back and the consequences. and we have no reason to believe these are the only pardons that president trump will roll out. our hope is that going forward we'll have an assessment. back to the team. now that we have heard about the pardons that trump just brought out. he's saying i'm going to take care of my friends. do you believe that this sort of thing actually is about loyalty or about trump just flexing power? >> i think for trump it's about both. for the country it's a dangerous position. we know that with trump he starts strong and bigger and bigger. with everything he does that is an out rage. this is the first step of the pardons from the president. and he has a month to go. it should make the american people justifiably concerned about what is the second round going to include? who will

campaign funds for personal expenses and was weeks away from beginning an 11 month prison sentence chris collins of new york was the first member of congress to endorse trump to be president kalas was sentenced to 2 years and 2 months in federal prison. >>that's after admitting that he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 and stock market losses after he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed also pardoned tonight was george papadopoulos he's best known for playing a key role in the years long investigation into russian election interference. he was sentenced to 14 days in federal lockup in one year of supervised release in september of 2018 for lying to investigators in the russia probe a free christmas message to the nation today from president-elect joe biden he covered a number of issues, including the recent cyber attack on federal agencies and the surging pandemic the fate of the stimulus bill passed by the is unclear tonight, but as dean reynolds reports biden has his sights on a much larger relief package, try to get approved once he takes office. one

trump pardoned three convicted former republican lawmakers chris collins convicted of insider trading and fraud and duncan hunter who pled guilty to stealing campaign money to spend on personal luxuries and steve stockman convicted of fraud and money laundering and pardoned these four, four private military contractors convicted of killing 17 iraqi civilians including two children. with 28 days to go, how many more pardons are coming? that's the big question. will he follow through on reports of preemptively pardons his family, rudy giuliani and pardon himself. what happens if he does try to pardon himself? >> joining me is nick and jason johnson. nick, your big picture take aways from these pardons, what do they tell you? >> they tell me we have a president who is unleashed, who is basically abusing the pardon power. the pardon power is really a safety valve in our criminal justice system that allows the president to grant pardons to individuals who have committed crimes but yet, have shown through their good deeds or through their past behavior that they've reformed themselves, that

convicted in corruption case, duncan hunter of california who admitted misusing campaign funds and chris collins of new york who pleaded guilty in an insider trading case. and he commuted the sentence of steve stockman of texas convicted of misusing charitable contributions. >> what about these blackwater pardons, pete? what more can you tell us about that? four former security contractors with blackwater after being convicted for their roles in the deadly shooting of unarmed civilians in iraq. >> right. they were convicted 60s years ago. this was a shooting in bagdad in 2007 that killed 17 people including a number of iraqi civilians it began when they started firing at a crowded intersect n intersection. they claim they were firing in self-defen self-defense. there was disputed evidence about that. the white house statement said the lead ari kentucky investigator may have had ties to insurgent groups and that additional evidence should have been presented at the trial of one of the guards. by the way, the white house statement on the pardons noted who was pushing for the pardons in all the cas

congressman duncan hunter who was convicted of misusing a quarter million dollars in campaign funds, and chris collins, the first to endorse trump who pleaded guilty to security fraud, and trump pardoning four blackwater security guards convicted of murder and manslaughter charges after killing 17 people at a baghdad traffic sicircle in 200 >> when you look at all of them, it's corruption. >> reporter: jeremy diamond, traveling with the president in west palm beach. >>> u.s. lawmakers are expected to meet on monday to deal with that crucial defense bill. a vote there could lead to the first veto override of the trump presidency, as we heard there in jeremy's package. it's still not clear what happens to the covid relief that congress approved after president trump called for substantially greater cash payouts to struggling americans. two house members on opposite sides of the aisle spoke with cnn's chris cuomo about the possibility of raising direct payments to $2,000 per person. >> if that's what the president would like we'll surely put up more hours. part of our package as it is, director resources

trump, new york's chris collins you may remember back in 2017, collins was caught on camera on the whiteouse south lawn giving insider stock tips to his son. >>> the president also pardoned four military contractors who worked for blackwater, all convicted of killing 14 unarmed iraqi civilians in 2007. and the coronavirus has finally reached the end of the earth quite literally. the outbreak he has arrived in antarctica according to the chilean army, 36 people tested positive on its research base in northern antarctica until this week, it was the only continent free of the virus. base personnel have been isolated and are constantly monitored by health authorities. >>> and check out this incredible new video from the u.s. geological survey that is the kilauea volcano, it erupted sunday night on hawaii's big island authorities say the eruption is still going strong, but has stabilized, so it poses no immediate threat to the public thousands of spectators are flocking to the kilauea summit to see the spectacular fire show and that massive lake of lava covers 33 acres. back to you. >> as lon