>> martha stewart. >> tucker: is it martha stewart? >> a pardon now for martha stewart. stuart, you'll remember, was convicted back in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she unlewded stock just before the price plummeted. the president says she, quote: used to be one of my biggest fans. >> tucker: martha stewart not only a genius. >> down hill from here. >> tucker: question two. katie is in the lead. multiple choice question. france, the country, just discovered its own version of spiderman. a man from mali, the country of mali scaled the front of an apartment building to save a toddler from falling off the balcony. that man has been offered that you job for reward for heroism is that job a high rise window washer a fireman

dinesh d'souza and signals he may pardon martha stewart and issue ooh commutation for former illinois governor rod blagojevich, blago. is he telling folks like michael cohen and paul manafort that i've got your back, as chris just said? >> yes. like chris said, the president is saying tune in. same bat time, same bat channel, because this too can happen for you. he is definitely doing that. but, you know, it sends more of a resounding message to me with martha stewart and the former illinois governor. but here is the issue for me. what the crimes, the convictions were for, conspiracy and corruption. and the former governor of illinois, he was actually impeached. and i think it sends a resounding message on what they were convicted on and what's happening with him with this russia investigation. so it's sending multiple levels of messages to the community, to those that he doesn't want to flip to say, look, this could happen. take a look at the bat signal

martha stewart, prosecutor james comey. rod blagojevich sentenced to prison. is this settling scores? >> i think it's more. look, i'm not a huge believer in coincidence, certainly not in politics. my belief is the prime motivator here is -- president trump was asked about dinesh d'souza. he said i never met him. i heard him on the radio and saw him on television. that's part of this too. martha stewart was on the apprentice. rod blagojevich was on the a apprentice. scooter libby. joe arripaio is sticking it to e elite. donald trump does so many things in opposition to what he doesn't like. so much of his presidency to date has been what did barack obama do? we're doing the opposite. doesn't matter what that is. it's relationship driven and it's score settling. don't underestimate what a big deal this is. it's a huge deal to pardon people. remember mark rich in the bill clinton days. this is a big deal. kirsten is right. we should not overlook it. >> just do it and don't say you're not doing it for that reason. stick around. so much more coming. so much for ros

and in '05, martha stewart hosted an apprentice spinoff series. it was the same year the president and his wife, mef melania, made an appearance on martha stewart's show. >> i'm here with donald and melania trump, and we're going to make a scrumptious meatloaf sandwich, which is donald's favorite sandwich according to melania. is that true? >> well, it's very good. i've never had meatloaf this good, but it's very good. >> aside from pardons, it was another whirlwind day of fast-breaking news from the president with no particular focus. the president wrote on twitter today, and this is important, that he never fired james comey because of russia. >> when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. >> the president had a big day today, went back on the attack against abc over roseanne. and prior to departing for texas and his meeting with loved ones from the latest mass school shooting there, he said, we're going to have some fun today. on the diplomacy front, the president

he said he was also thinking about pardons martha stewart. cnn's gjim acosta joins us now. what can you tell us about these pardons? >> i feel like i'm on an episode of the "apprentice". >> you would have been fired. >> moving on. it was interesting, the white house tried to turn reality inside out and insist the president is not just considering people because of his celebrity status. i'll tell you in the last several minutes i spoke with a white house official that said come on. you can't ignore the celebrity connections here between president trump and martha stewart and even dinesh d'souza and shares the same lack of friendliness with barack obama. the white house is pushing back officially on camera saying that's not the case, that the president is considering each of these cases on their merits. it makes you wonder who is next. pick any of the celebrities who have appeared on the "apprent e "apprentice" it raises the question how the president will be using this power. >> it's not the first controversial pardon the president has made or whether he's trying to send a m

both martha stewart and blagojevich made an here answpp "the apprentice." made offensive and racially loaded comments over the years about former president obama. the president is considering each case on merits. here is what deputy raj shah told reporters. >> is he sending a message to his allys? -- allies? >> each of the president's actions on pardons or other things should be judged on the merits and circumstances surrounding that case. >> reporter: the president has shown a willingness of pardons for controversial figures. including sheriff arpaio. he was convicted in court of ignoring a judge's order of stopping racially profiling latinos. dave and christine. >> thank you. the white house admitted to jim that you can't ignore trump's considerations. consider this, former u.s. attorney preet bharara prosecuted dinesh d'souza and james comey and martha stewart. as well as patrick fitzgerald. >>> and the u.s. is hitting tariffs and they are hitting back. the u.s. slapped tariffs on the eu, mexico and canada. 25% on steel. 10% on aluminum. the three had te

in the case of martha stewart, the prosecutor was james comey. let's see. mr. blagojevich was convicted of 18 charges, sentenced to 14 years in prison. but when you look at this, when you look at that, it's preet bharara or whether it's anyone else who is connected to the president, is this settling scores? >> so i actually think it's more. i mean, look. it's -- i'm not a huge believer in coincidence, don. certainly not in politics. so i'm not willing to dismiss that. my belief is the prime mover, the prime motivator here, and donald trump said this on air force one on the way to texas today. he was asked about dinesh d'souza. and he said i never really met him. i called him last night. boy, was he surprised. i heard him on the radio and saw him on television. that to me is part of this too. martha stewart was on "the apprentice." rod blagojevich was on "the apprentice." dinesh d'souza, scooter libby was to a certain extent sticking it in the eye of the bush administration who weren't willing to -- remember, george w. bush was strongly lobbied by dick cheney am

d'souza, martha stewart and maybe blago.ake of the president using the pardoning power? >> there are two things. one, i think it sort of is -- he's basically sending a message. politically i think when you look at the people that he has pardoned, joe arpaio as well you have to add to the list. >> i should correct myself, blago is in consideration. what a lineup. >> d'souza who pled guilty to illegal campaign violations. i think what he's doing is sending a message to those who are currently under the scope of mueller to say hey, listen if you have my back, i'll have your back. because i mean this is foreshadowing, right, and if you look at blagovich for example, he also was convicted of pay for play. if you also look at the d'souza pardon as well as joe arpaio, both are on record for saying dangerous things. what's the most dangerous about these pardons is it sends the message what these men have done is okay. arpaio was told not to discriminate against immigrants in arizona. he did it anyway. d'souza called president obama

possible pardon force a few of his former celebrity apprentice contestants, floating a pardon for martha stewartnce for former illinois governor rob blagojevich. stewart spent five months in prison for lying and obstruction of justice for a stock deal. blagojevich was caught on tape attempting to sell the senate seat vacated by president obama in 2008. he is currently in year six of a 14-year sentence. joining me now, cnn legal analyst and former special assistant to robert mueller at the department of justice, michael zeldin. big question here, michael, is why? what is the strategy? why float these pardons now? what do you make of it? >> i don't think there's a strategy. i think that the president recognizes that he has the power of pardon and that when someone whispers in his ear, whether it's vicky tunsing about scooter libby or ted cruz about sousa and he feels a compelling need to act, he acts. i don't think it's strategic in a sense that's been talked about, which is him sending a message to others involved in the russia investigation. i just don't -- i don't want to say it this way but i

james comey convicted martha stewart because she had lied. dinesh d 'souza was convicted, he apologized and said he deeply regretted what he had done. so for him to go out there and wipe it all away, i think it's a perversion of justice. >> your thoughts? >> i agree it's a perversion of justice and i think that president trump is blatantly skirting justice and the criminal justice system to pardon people who were convicted of crimes, pled guilty of crimes that he potentially could be charged with in the future or people in his orbit could be charged with in the future. we're talking about campaign finance violations, we talking about false statements to the fbi and we're also talking about the crime of insider trading which now is something people are talking about because of his tweet yesterday, before the jobs numbers came out. so what information is donald trump telling his cronies on the phone when he's having his executive time in the white house? and i think that this is a really precarious moment for country. our justice system needs t

the president said martha stewart could be next. why? is this about settling old scores or signaling something about future scores? especially in the russia investigation. on that front, sources tell cnn the president pressured jeff sessions on multiple occasions to reverse his decision to recuse himself multiple times. former white house strategist steve bannon says he is wrong where sessions is concerned. >>> and the top spy from north korea heads to washington. he will hand deliver a letter from kim jong-un to the president at the white house. oh, to be a fly on the wall that could read for that letter. this comes after secretary of state mike pompeo reports good progress in the talks with both sides. ahead and a potential summit days away. and president trump campaigned on china going after trade, but slapping more tariffs on u.s. allies than china. why is he doing that and what is the impact on american jobs? let's start with kaitlan collins live at the white house. kaitlan. >> reporter: alisyn and john? the president is in a forgiv

. >> maya, he talked about the possibility today of pardoning martha stewart. it seems like he's trying to in a certain extent, turn this into a reality show, the pardon power. >> i think you're right. i think it's also that martha stewart was prosecuted by james comey in the southern district of new york where michael cohen that is i am ready and willing to use this power to my benefit. "the washington post" has a quote from roger stone, one of the targets of the investigation who makes it clear to the post that he got that message loud and clear that the president is willing to use his pardon power in these cases and potentially the russia investigation. >> maya, he talked about the possibility today of pardoning martha stewart. it seems like he's trying to in a certain extent, turn this into a reality show, the pardon power. >> i think you're right. i think it's also that martha stewart was prosecuted by james comey in the southern district of new york where michael cohen is now under investigation. so i think there's a clear wink, wink, nod, nod, as well as

he also knows martha stewart personally. dinesh is the odd one out there and that's much more a play for his base and his supporters. let's be honest, i think roger stone said it to the "washington post," these are pardons that send a message to people who either have pleaded guilty in the special counsel's investigation into possible russia collusion between the trump campaign or russian officials or who could plead guilty in other cases and plead to a lesser offenwccasion -- >> i actually have that. "it has to be a signal to mike flynn and paul manafort. the special counsel has awesome powers, as you know, but the president has even more awesome powers. >> that awesome powers that roger is referring to is something that my colleagues and i referred to when the main lawyer john dowd had conversations with lawyers for paul manafort and i believe it was flynn as well about leaning into a pardon. this is before the flynn guilty plea, i believe. i think when you put all of that together, it's pretty clear what's going on. this

maybe even martha stewart. rudy giuliani pardons these people? >> i recommended pardons in probably worse cases to ronald reagan. >> you would pardon these people? >> probably each one of them, yes. martha stewart's conviction was a damn game to get yourself in the newspapers, which may have been the beginning o the jim comey who eventually illegally leaked a memo. arpaio, i don't know the case that well except it seemed to me it was highly political, as was d'souza. scooter libby had already been commuted. the investigation existed for the purpose of creating perjury on somebody. maybe that's what mueller is doing. >> arpaio openly flouted the law on purpose even when he was told not to. dinesh d'souza signed a plea agreement admitting he lied and broke the law. martha stewart, i covered every day of that trial. she was a contradictvicted liar. it seems like you want to send the message, lying is okay. >> lying is not okay. pardons are perfectly appropriate. it sure beats the terrorist that clinton pardoned. >> that's our new standard, anybody i

paul: briefly, bill, you wrote about the martha stewart case, do you think the pardon is justified?ified. i thought the scooter levy pardon was fine. sometimes it's not about the crime but about the punishment that is disproportionate. paul: okay, thank you very much, gentlemen, when we come back primary voters get set to the polls tuesday to california, a state that could make or break democratic hopes of taking back the house. why the primary system there could leave them out of the cold in key races come november. with 5 times more regions ancestrydna can pinpoint where your ancestors are from and the paths they took to a new home. could their journey inspire yours? order your kit at ancestrydna.com paywell, esurance makes itnce you dsimple and affordable. in fact, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of $412. that's auto and home insurance for the modern world. esurance, an allstate company. click or call. paying too much for insurance that isn't the right fit? well, esurance makes finding the right coverage easy. in fact, drivers who switched from geico

he mentioned martha stewart and he mentions rod blagojevich.ake jack johnson out of it. that was righting a wrong long in the making. what is the theme? >> he is flexing his presidential power and saying the law is unfair in many cases and i am going to defend those oppressed by the law. he is helping celebrities which i don't think is an accident. i think he is someone who understands what the public likes to read about and pardoning celebrities will get attention for this message he wants to send. >> if you are inside the halls of the justice department and your job is to root out public corruption and prosecute it. does this have a chilling effect? >> absolutely. it sends a message that the president is not necessarily going to stand by you. the president very early in his term is willing to flex this muscle aggressively and frequently. that could turn to other issues like the russia probe. >> patti blagojevich, rod's wife, talked about this last night. here is that from last night. >> the same people that did this to my family. secretly tap

apprentice" family, martha stewart who's done time, and former illinois governor rod blagojevich, who is still doing time. earlier today president trump pardoned conservative author and filmmaker dinesh d'souza who pleaded guilty back in 2014 to making illegal campaign contributions. at the time da souza argued he was being politically targeted because of his opposition to president obama. the white house released a statement that read in part, quote, mr. da souza was in the president's opinion a victim of selective prosecution for violations of campaign finance laws. former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york preet bharara, who oversaw da souza's case, wrote this on twitter today, quote, the president has the right to pardon, but the facts are these. da souza intentionally broke the law, voluntarily pled guilty, apologized for his conduct, and the judge found no unfairness. the career prosecutors and agents did their job, period. da souza wrote back on twitter, quote, bharara and his goons

she doesn't obstruct justice but martha stewart did.ice under the law, look at masking and intelligence and fixing the hilary campaign. fisa abuse. it's rotting from the head down and the fbi rank and file will expose it. this dovetails nicely the whole mccabe memo and first of all the president could fire comey because he didn't like the color of his socks. he didn't need a reason but when you add that to what john solomon what he is saying, fbi documents bringing it right to the obama administration. and i've seen more than i can say. >> peter strzok sent a text message to his mistress, lisa page, august 5. he just signed the documents opening the trump russian collusion case and in that text he said the white house is running this. the chronology of events tells you what happened. we're going see a peter strzok memo, the guy who wrote the exoneration to hilary before the investigation, signed the papers, and said the white house is running this. president obama is being briefed all the time by john brennan, the cia director the insti

paul: briefly, bill, you wrote about the martha stewart case, do you think the pardon is justified?d. i thought the scooter levy pardon was fine. sometimes it's not about the crime but about the punishment that is disproportionate. paul: okay, thank you very much, gentlemen, when we come back primary voters get set to the polls tuesday to california, a state that could make or break democratic hopes of taking back the house. why the primary system there could leave them out of the cold in key races come i have to tell you something incredible. capital one has partnered with hotels.com to give venture cardholders 10 miles on every dollar they spend at thousands of hotels. all you have to do is pay with this... at hotels.com/venture. 10 miles per dollar? that is incredible. brrrrr. i have the chills. because you're so excited? because ice is cold. and because of all those miles. obviously. what's in your wallet? i'm not sure. what's in your wallet? and i heard that my cousin's so, wife's sister's husband was a lawyer, so i called him. but he never called me back! if your cousin's wife

why is the president considering a pardon nor martha stewart? considering shortening a sentence for governor robb blagojevich? would koh it be a signal to michael cohen the president's long-time loyal who is feeling pressure from robert mueller as he closes in on folks involved with this. or does this have to deal with mueller himself with james comey? rib he served as fbi director and back in 4 james comey was the whoub brought federal charges against martha stewart. peter, there's nothing more frustratings a journalist than having the question we don't know answer to. i'm not sure we know the answer as to white president is considering this, but there are signs of where that is going. >> i think that anybody can sort of read this the way they like, including those individuals you named like the president's attorney michael cohen, perhaps his formal national security advise irrelevant micha adviser michael flynn. it's one of the president's most unfettered powers. he can wave a wand and say you get a pardon, you get a pardon just in the same wa

>> martha stewart. >> tucker: is it martha stewart? >> a pardon now for martha stewart.k in 2,004 of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she unloaded stopped just before the price plummeted. the president said she "used to be one of my biggest fans." >> tucker: martha stewart. not only a genius, but also a convicted felon. >> only downhill from here. >> tucker: question two. katie is in the lead. multiple choice. france, the country, just discovered its own version of spider-man, a man from mali scale the front of an apartment building to save a toddler from falling off the balcony. that man has been offered a new job as a reward for his heroism. is that job a high-rise window washer, a fireman, or a circuscr acrobat? griff jenkins. figure fireman. sleep environment. or as we say in our country, firefighter. is it fireman? >> a 22-year-old being called ac real life spider-man. bravely using his own momentum to swing from one buckle me to reaching the child in less than 30 seconds. he has also been given a job as a fireman. >> good for him. >> tucker

paul: briefly, bill, you wrote about the martha stewart case, do you think the pardon is justified? is justified. i thought the scooter levy pardon was fine. sometimes it's not about the crime but about the punishment that is disproportionate. paul: okay, thank you very much, gentlemen, when we come back primary voters get set to the polls tuesday to california, a state that could make or break democratic hopes of taking back the house. why the primary system there could leave them out of the cold could leave them out of the cold in key races come i've always been about what's next. i'm still giving it my best even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm up for that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. so what's next? seeing these guys. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliqui

paul: briefly, bill, you wrote about the martha stewart case, do you think the pardon is justified?ied. i thought the scooter levy pardon was fine. sometimes it's not about the crime but about the punishment that is disproportionate. paul: okay, thank you very much, gentlemen, when we come back primary voters get set to the polls tuesday to california, a state that could make or break democratic hopes of taking back the house. why the primary system there could leave them out of the cold could leave them out of the cold in key rachow do you win at business? stay at la quinta. where we're changing with stylish make-overs. then at your next meeting, set your seat height to its maximum level. bravo, tall meeting man. start winning today. book now at lq.com same thing with any dent or dings on this truck. they all got a story about what happened to 'em. man 2: it was raining, there was only one way out. i could feel the barb wire was just digging into the paint. man: two bulls were fighting, (thud) bam hit the truck. try explaining that to your insurance company. woman: another ding, an

the idea that pardoning martha stewart -- martha stewart was again, jim comey was the southern district of new york u.s. attorney at the time and she was a big fish get for it call me comey. >> what you are looking at right now is a couple of democrats. you mentioned rob blagojevich, no crime proven there. martha stewart, they try to get them on this process crime. it would absolutely be just for him to pardon her and others who have been unjustly which hunted for the purpose of their own careers. nobody today can doubt that james comey and also patrick fitzgerald who was a two-time or their, they acted in their own self interest. they should not be allowed to abuse their positions to do this, and other democratic and americans would applaud the president for writing those wrongs. and we will discuss the onslaught next with ari slicer and solomon wisenberg. with great gifts from bass pro shops and cabela's. like bass pro and cabela's flag t-shirts for only $5. an igloo 120 quart cooler for under $50. and this knife and tool sharpener kit for under $80. bass pro shops and cabela's. >> la

>> martha stewart. >> tucker: is it martha stewart? >> a pardon now for martha stewart.ack in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she unlewded stock just before the price plummeted. the president says she, quote: used to be one of my biggest fans. >> tucker: martha stewart not only a genius. >> down hill from here. >> tucker: question two. katie is in the lead. multiple choice question. france, the country, just discovered its own version of spiderman. a man from mali, the country of mali scaled the front of an apartment building to save a toddler from falling off the balcony. that man has been offered that you job for reward for heroism is that job a high rise window washer a fireman or c a circus acrobat? griff jenkins? >> fireman. >> tucker: as we say in our country firefighter. is it fireman. >> 22-year-old being called a real life fireman, swinging one balcony to another reaching the child in less than 30 seconds. he has also been given a job as a fireman. >> good for him. >> tucker: outstanding that was compelling. very good i'm not up

it's not oh, boo who, martha stewart. it's the justice department is against us.inst us. hollywood is against us. >> i'm more political than any of you guys. i'm looking at the categories of people he's let off. scooter libby, mr. neo-con, did i nesh d'souza, arpaio, illegal immigrants, hate them. he seems like he's finding categories of people and giving each iconic representative of each one of the communities, i like all you communities backing me. >> there's three categories certainly, those pardoned people who have had their causes championed by conservatives, those who have had their causes championed by celebrities like jackson johnson and those on "celebrity apprentice" which is martha stewart and rob blagojovich. >>. >> those are the people he knows. that's the world he knows. those are the folks he wants to send a signal with. there's no question whether 80s flynn, mst or other people in the probe, that's part of this, too. i have this power. >> do you guys agree he will use it to protect himself? if jared kushner is prosecuted will he move immediately,

martha stewart, fascinating. and obviously second, there is a message here for all the people who are caught up in the investigation, starting with michael cohen, paul manafort, all the people who mueller and company would like to flip, would like to pressure. and here's the president, sometimes described the iron whim of this president. he gets to exercise it on pardoning as on nothing else. so i'm sure there's going to be a new big feature of the trump white house. >> notice he also surrounding himself in celebrity, kim kardashian yesterday. and then, you know now he's talking about pardoning other celebrities. people that are well known. people that have even been on his show. and there's a political angle to that as well. but you know, jon heilemann, i love how people when they talk to you about the power of pardons and the power to indict a president, they speak in absolute terms just like i heard three, four, five months ago that it is impossible to indict a sitting president. the fact is, it's not impossib

president trump on a pardoning spree hinting he may pardon martha stewart and commute the sentence of disgraced former illinois governor rod blagojevich. the president defending the two former apprentice contestants, insisting they were treated unfairly. >> i like martha. i've always liked march that. i still like martha >> reporter: a probe into allegations of insider trading. >> so governor, you have a hell of a lot of guts. i have to tell you that. >> in 2011, blagojevich was convicted of 17 public corruption charges, including trying to sell is president obama's senate seat. he is currently six years into serving a 14-year sentence. this coming hours after the president issued his fifth pardon for author and filmmaker dinesh d'souza who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in a straw donor scheme. he argues that d'souza was treated unfairly by the government despite d'souza acknowledging what he did was wrong. d'souza said he was targeted because of inflammatory remarks he made about barack obama. stewart's case was prosecuted by former u.s. attorney and fired fbi directo

. >> maya, he talked about the possibility today of pardoning martha stewart. it seems like he's trying to in a certain extent, turn this into a reality show, the pardon power. >> i think you're right. i think it's also that martha stewart was prosecuted by james comey in the southern district of new york where michael cohen is now under investigation. so i think there's a clear wink, wink, nod, nod, as well as a bit of a punishment to comey, in his book he talked about the decision to prosecute a wealthy person, if he was going to prosecute a black pastor for a low level crime, he couldn't pass over prosecuting martha stewart for a white collar crime. and remember, barack obama has one of the highest numbers of clemency decisions, other than gerald ford who dg vietnam draft evaders. but because it was low level offenders, almost 2,000 people in total he pardoned but around a societal issue. donald trump said he was going to clean up the swamp. dinesh d'souza, campaign finance reform, pled guilty. aloe cuted to it. said he was remorsableleful and suddenly now s

i'm talking martha stewart and the former illinois governor. many say the president's moves are sending a signal to some people right now who are under investigation. a signal that the president is saying i got your back. we'll talk about it next. first, a quick reminder, one was convicted of 18 counts of corruption caught on tape trying to sell barack obama's vacant senate seat back in 2008. >> i've got this thing, and it's [ bleep ] golden. and i'm not just giving it up for plp b[ bleep ] nothing. i'm not going to do it. the smart ones look to fidelity to find them. we give you research and data-visualization tools to help identify potential opportunities. so, you can do it this way... or get everything you need to help capture investment ideas and make smarter trading decisions with fidelity for just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. fidelity. open an account today. ♪ open an account today. if you have moderate to thsevere rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. ongoing pain and stiffness

that is -- >> but martha stewart is a big deal.al than most people working for the federal government. she's not one of the little people. >> but the little people are what they're really actually reacting to is this idea of unfairness among our institutions of power. it's not oh, boo-hoo martha stewart. it's the justice department is ainst us. big tech is against us. hollywood is against us. >> let me try something. i'm more political than any of you guys. i'm looking at the categories of people he's let off. scooter libby, mr. neocon, dinesh d'souza. arpaio, illegal immigrants, hate them. he seems he's finding categories of people and given he's iconic person of each one of the communities. >> i argue it's three categories. as you just said, certainly, those people who have had their causes championed by conservatives, those who have had this causes championed by celebrities like jack johnson, and those who were on celebrity apprentice kwie apprentice. those are the people he knows. that's the world he knows. those are the folks

james comey prosecuted martha stewart. patrick fitzgerald was a good friend of james comey who prosecuted rhod rod dagovich. they're saying the president is out of line doing the pardons. rob's why have who has been pressing to have her husband released by the president, so he's really encouraged by the president's words. >> woodruff: makes everyone wonder whether signals were being sent in all this. >> mm-hmm. >> woodruff: a lot going on today. thank you both. >> woodruff: we return to the brewing trade war between the u.s. and some of our closest allies. john yang has that. >> yang: judy, u.s./european relations took another hit today when commerce secretary wilbur ross said the administration would impose tariffs on european steel and aluminum. this comes after president trump withdrew from the deal to contain iran's nuclear program, a deal the e.u. helped negotiate and remains committed to. to talk about this, we're joined by david o'sullivan, the european union's ambassador to the united states. mr. ambassador, thanks

martha stewart is a person like me. these are powerful famous people. these are not the thugs of ms-3, not the thugs of the central park jogger case. those are the people that deserve to be in prison. those are the people the law should be used against and the people that go to my parties and buy my condos and occupy my offices the law means nothing to them. he is using that philosophy to govern the country right now in front of all of us and using the pardon power. it's going to get worse before it gets better. paul and dan. >> don't forget "the apprentice." >> blagojovich was on there. >> that's right. coming up, recordings of the president's lawyer threatening a journalist during the campaign. my interview with the reporter who took the abuse. >> i'm warning you, tread [ bleep ] lightly. what i'm going to do to you is going to be disgust package. for leisure. so i go national, where i can chany conversations- upgi pacg -or paying any upcharges. what can i say? control suits me. go national. go like a pro. un-stop right there! i'm about to pop a cap o

rod blagojevich and martha stewart.ans close. 14 year sentence for horsetrading did strike me as a bit excessive. i read his op-ed in the journal a couple days ago and was sympathetic. i'm not against a commutation. i also think martha stewart made a dumb mistake lying to federal investigators but the big message is if you are in the mueller investigation facing legal peril i have an absolute power to pardon and not afraid to use it. that is the message i take away. stuart: the pres. tweeting about samantha be, the controversy. why aren't they firing samantha be for the language used on her low rating show. a total double standard but that is okay, we are winning and doing so for a long time to come. i say she should be flat-out fired. that is a line, a terrible line to cross just like roseanne barr. >> i couldn't agree more. i don't see how you fire roseanne barr for what i believe were unpalatable and unacceptable, quote, jokes as she put it. she deserved to go but why wouldn't samantha be go for language just as obsc

could martha stewart be next? jillian: a band of brothers with photos of babies of a fallen soldier who died before his daughter was born. it will bring tears to your eyes. "fox and friends first" continues right now. ♪ ♪ rob: you know what that is? that is a concert. preparation for concert, kind of like the start of summer. jillian: it is unofficially the start of summer. rob: the next 8 or 10 weeks we are going to be having music here. we will get to that. thanks for watching "fox and friends first" friday morning. jillian: thanks for starting the day with us. today donald trump will read a top-secret letter from the desk of dictator kim jong un. rob: after days of high stakes talks with mike pompeo. jillian: allison barber live with what it means for possible nuclear summit. >> he is said to visit the white house and had the letter to donald trump from kim jong un. the most senior official to visit in 18 years. top north korean military leader, from kim jong un from kim jong-il. one of kim jong un's closest, a

martha stewart a big liberal. the idea of pardoning martha stewart -- jim comey was the southern district of new york u.s. attorney at the time. she was a big fish get for comey. that was a huge feather in his cap. that was another ridiculous prosecution. >> absolutely. he is looking at pardoning a couple of democrats, you mentioned blagojevich and martha stewart. you try to get them on this process crime and it would be just for him to pardon her and others who have been witch hunted for the purposes of their own careers. no one can doubt that james comey and patrick fitzgerald who is a two-timer there with scooter libby. they should not be allowed to abuse their positions to do. this and i think others would applaud the president for righting those wrongs and i hope he does that. >> laura: conrad black another outrageous prosecution by patrick fitzgerald. the media are pushing jim comey's events in the russia probe. we may have uncovered the reason for it. and we're going to discuss it next. >> laura: president

martha stewart, the best argument for her is she wouldn't have been prosecuted if she wasn't martha stewart. and you can argue that if that's the case, then, a pard season not so outrageous. >> let's not forget the connective tissue here. james comey and pat fitzgerald are involved in all of the things we talk about. >> let's hope it's not just famous people that will be pardoned, if the pardon power is going to be the used. >> that's the last word for today. thank you both for joining me. >>> the summit for north korea is back on. our experts analyze the opportunities and risks next. it can detect a threat using ai, and respond 60 times faster. it lets you know where your data lives, down to the very server. it keeps your insights from prying eyes, so they're used by no one else but you. it is... the cloud. the ibm cloud. the cloud that's built for all your apps. ai ready. secure to the core. the ibm cloud is the cloud for smarter business. dad! hiding when i was supposed to be quitting. i thought, i should try something that works. i should try nicorette. nicorette mini relieves sudden cr

the president said today he may grant clemency to businesswoman martha stewart. stewart was convicted in 2004 of obstructing justice for lying about a stock trade. the president said he's also considering pardoning or commuting the sentence of rod blagojevich. the former politician is currently serving a 14-year sentence for corruption. trump says that he considers the sentence excessive. >>> oakland is honoring the band that made funk famous. the legendary group tower of power was founded 50 years ago in oakland, and today the city honored the musicians who created some of the biggest r, and b hits of our time with the tower of power day. at a ceremony at the plaza, oakland mayor libby schaaf praised their sound and their stamina. >> don't they look good? you all look good for a band that's celebrating its 50th anniversary. don't return the favor, gentlemen. >> tower of power will perform at oakland's fox theater tomorrow and saturday. >>> for the first time in more than 20 years, a fully crewed navy ship is in port. the ship and her crew got a hero's welcome as

what was martha stewart convicted of? lying to federal prosecutors, lying to fbi agents.s what michael flynn pleaded guilty to. so people are defending trump in this instance saying that it's his constitutional right, he has sort of an unfettered right to pardon whom ever he feels but the fact is this is a clear message. it couldn't be more clear, brianna. >> is he saying in your view, carolyn, if you defense me, i am going to be there for you? >> yes. and, look, dinesh d'souza, his hole ta whole take is on -- he pleaded guilty to the campaign finance violations. he knew he was breaking the law. but his whole claim is that he was selectively prosecuted by obama administration officials. so the word that president trump keeps using is unfair, unfair, unfair, and these are all sort of prosecutions by obama administration officials. so, yes, clearly president trump is saying that, you know, you could lie to federal investigators, you can lie to fbi agents about these crimes. martha stewart i will just say, she was convicted of lying to federal investigators about an underlyi

president floated the idea of giving our blago a break of prison and official forgiveness for martha stewart, we're hearing those are a couple of the names on a long list of potential pardons. looks like kim kardshian's oval office visit paid off and in a big way. let's get to it. wednesday already. president trump is not above the law. he should not pardon himself and there's no evidence at all that the fbi put a spy in the trump campaign. that comes not from critics, but from the top republican and the u.s. house of representatives, the speaker paul ryan. speaker ryan pushing back against president trump's unfounded claim that the feds put a spy inside his campaign. the speaker siding with the republican chairman, trey gowdy, who undercuff the so-called spygate noncontroversy theory last week. >> i'm even more convinced that the fbi did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got. i think when the president finds out what happened, he's going to be not just fine, he's going to be glad that we have an fbi that took seriously what they heard.

considering commuting the sentence of former illinois governor rod blagojevich and pardoning martha stewart. ♪ money money money >> reporter: both incidentally are former "apprentice" guest stars. stewart convicted for obstructing justice and lying to investigators, and blagojevich is serving 14 years on corruption charges for trying to sell the senate seat vacated by barack obama. in a statement this morning, blagojevich's wife says she and her family are very encouraged by the president's comments. he's given us something that has been hard to come by recently, hope. patti blagojevich recently appealed to trump to help her husband. here she is last month. >> he has a relationship with him from when he was on "the apprentice." president trump has said numerous times and made public statements astonished at the length of the sentence. >> reporter: the president said the recent pardons are not meant to send a message to his political allies tied up in the russia investigation. but democratic senator mark warner suggesting otherwise tweeting the possibility that he may also be sending a messa

howie: the president publicly said i might pardon martha stewart, she already served her time. i might pardon rod blagojevich. he's still in prison for corruption charges including selling nor obama's senate seat -- senator obama's senate seat. jonah: there are a lot more people worthy of pardons. martha stewart you could make a good case on the merits. scooter libby i thought deserved a pardon. but you can do the right thing for the wrong reasons in a lot of cases. the joe arpaio part was utterly indefensible. he was a bad guy who did bad things. but you can also do the right things for the wrong reasons and allow yourself to do things that you think are to your political benefit. howie: i congratulate on your book. haven't we had enough speculation about missing melania? the first survivor of alzheimer's disease is out there. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. howie: the new york tabloids had a field day as kim kardashian showed up at the white house to seek clemency for her great gr

i say free martha stewart. give her the pardon, compared to former clinton national security adviser,ar remember, sandy the burglar burger? he stole classified documents from the national archives. he stuffed them in his pants and in his socks. he never got charged with a crime. could you say a two-tiered justice system? what happened to equal justice under the law? what happened to equal application of the law? what happened to our constitutional rights that we're all equal in this country? finally tonight, a story from a so-called comedienne samantha bee. >> ivanka trump who works at the white house chose to post the second most oblivious tweet we've seen this week. you know, ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child but let me just say one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices you [ bleep ]. he listens to you. put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to [ bleep ] stop it. tell him it waset an obama thing and seell how it goes, ok? >> hannity: disgu

and martha stewart and rod blagojevich, who both have ties to "the apprentice."sylvester stall own is making a movie about the first black champion, and his words could caroline kennedy to clemen clemency. let me start by asking to reflect by what we've seen this week. i'll use dinesh d'souza as an example. we seen it happen with scooter libby and jeff johnson. president trump saying again he had no relationship to this person, hadn't talk to him before. i'm talking about dinesh d'souza, it was brought to himself attention over dinner by senator ted cruz. >> it's three things that comes to mind. one, he went around what is the usual, where you have the pardons group in the justice department make recommendations, give a reasoning for it, give justification for it or they give adverse reasons why it should not happen. he totally went around that and doesn't appear to have any of those considerations. so then if that is not the procedure, then what is the motivation? are we now saying that you do pardons by who has a social access to the president? and then the thi