rod blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison. he served seven.ked that i study the possibility of commuting his sentence, in that it was a very severe one. white house staff is continuing the review of this matter. trump and blagojevich go way back to 2010 when the former governor on as the apprentice. he was in prison since 2012 and impeached and removed from office in 2009. he was the center of that federal investigation in which he was accuse of corruption and later convicted on more than a dozen counts including trying to sell the senate seat vacated by president barack obama. patty blagojevich, rod's wife is weighing in and she tweeted yesterday this is giving her family new hope. she says what she called their 11-year nightmare, might soon be over. back to you. david: grady thank you very much, so bruce, you're a chicagoan. should blagojevich get out early >> i don't think a lot of people really care. we have so many politicians here getting so much trouble all the time. i thought he was, he had been in for about 10 years. if they would agr

trump told reporters on board air force one last night that he is strongly thinking about getting rod blagojevichvich to 14 years in bars on federal corruption charges after he tried to sell president obama's senate seat after the 2008 election. >> i've got this thing and it's [bleep] golden. just not giving it up. busted my [bleep], only 13% of you think i'm doing a good job. >> shepard: there you go. and then blago learned to fly from a little help from our technical department and a green screen. while he walked from prison or might he fly? matt finn reporting. he is in the chicago newsroom. planet blago is hopping. >> for more than a year the president has stated or tweeted that he is considering setting rod blagojevich free but now the president said he's very strongly considering commuting rod blagojevich's sentence. the president said yesterday he feels blago was treated unfairly when he was given 14 years for corruption charges. president trump said blagojevich has been in jail for seven years over a "phone call were nothing happened and that politicians have done a lot worse." the former

( laughter ) how does donald trump know this corrupt politician rod blagojevich? he help him set up secret russian meetings or help him with a tax evasion scheme? no, they were on the same show. >> let me ask you a question. your harry potter facts were not accurate. who did the research? >> i feel like i knew a product. i wrote a lot of the text. slivering, huff and puff and raven cloth. >> so are you spoons snbl. >> i think -- i think we did not win. >> rod, you're fired. >> trevor: wow. ( laughter ) you know, i don't know why, but after everything, i think the thing that would actually freak me out the most about trump is if he was actually an expert on harry potter. that would, like, break my mind. i wouldn't be able to accept that if he came out one day and said i say send her back! expel the armis! i would be, like, no, i'm not willing to accept that. i just wouldn't. blaz( applause ) that's it for the headlines. before our main story, all of this week, everyone has been asking what can we do to try and end gun violence? and for a lot of politicians, the sol

>> shep, rod blagojevich and his family are essentially just waiting and hoping, hoping he might soonop, the coop being the federal prison behind me here. that's the entrance that blagojevich went into seven years ago. the entrance out from which he may walk in the next hours and days if president trump does indeed commute his sentence. he's not housed in that main building. he is behind us and a smaller building you can't see it was outside the building that he was seen on camera exercising over the weekend. we are told he ran about 20 laps around a baseball field and if you can picture this, if you really want to, he then came back out and did a bunch of shirtless push-ups. meantime, some welcome back balloons appeared outside his chicago home. his wife said she did not put them there but quite conspicuously she was seen on camera standing next to them and even more conspicuously, she did not remove those welcome back balloons. >> shepard: so now we get word from two sources that he was literally headed to processing to get out of there last thursday and all of this is really gettin

i'm thinking of this rod blagojevich statement he made yesterday.cted of 14 of 17 charges. >> trying to sell president obama's senate seat. >> this is what the president said about rod blagojevich yesterday. i thought he was treated unfairly. he was given 18 years in prison. a lot of people thought it was unfair like a lot of other things. it was the same gang. the comey gang and all these sleaze bags that did it. i'm thinking about commuting his sentence. i think it's enough, seven years. the republican delegation of illinois -- the republican delegation of illinois did not want him to do that. >> reporter: no. but -- well, no. this kind of goes towards a different category of president trump's feelings. you saw the reference that was made right there to former fbi director james comey. the president is right now in a bit of a punching match with the federal law enforcement system particularly fbi. this goes to the heart of his anger about the russia probe and feeling like that was focused on him unfairly and supporting this probe that's being done

just days after president trump suggested that he could release former illinois governor rod blagojevichon, "welcome home" balloons were spotted in his chicago home. chief correspondent jonathan hunt live in littleton, colorado, just outside the federal prison where blagojevich has been house. jonathan, what's the latest? >> hey, molly. it's a waiting game right now for rod blagojevich, and that game is being played at beyond the fences of this, the federal correctional institution in inglewood, as it is called in the denver suburbs. as you look across to the right you can see the field where some of the inmates generally exercise each day. this weekend, blago himself was filling those hours by exercising. cameras caught him on the grounds of the federal correctional institution. he did about 20 laps of the baseball field, we are told. then he was seen doing some shirtless push-ups, if you want to picture that in your mind's eye. his famous black mop of hair now almost entirely white. meantime, back at his home in chicago, "welcome back" balloons appeared. his wife said she didn't put th

consider former illinois governor rod blagojevich who's currently sitting in federal prison.nking about commuting a sentence. he's been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens. i would think that there are many politicians that have said a lot worse over telephones. actually we have a few michael cohen tapes. if you don't remember the story, let me take you back into the year 2008. barack obama had just been elected president. he left behind a vacant seat as illinois senator. and who was tasked with choosing his seat? rod blagojevich who was caught on wire tap saying, quote, i've got this thing and it's [ bleep ] golden. and i'm not just giving it up for [ bleep ] nothing. he went to prison for corruption that included trying to sell that senate seat. now it's eight years later and president trump says maybe blagojevich has served enough time. and you really have to wonder what his motivation is. it didn't be that blagojevich has learned his lesson as of 2017. he was still insisting he was innocent. it can't be that the president and blagojevich were t

you may remember rod blagojevich was on "celebrity apprentice" in 2010 so that's how the two know eachh has been in prison in colorado since 2012. he was impeached and removed from office in 2009 after that federal investigation in which he was accused of corruption, then convicted on more than a dozen counts including the one where he offered to sell president barack obama's now vacant senate seat. this is a statement from patty blagojevich, rod's wife. she says our president's comments on air force one last night which was wednesday night, make us very hopeful that our almost 11-year nightmare might soon be over. we are very grateful. the president is getting some unlikely support from reverend jesse jackson as well as his son, who is a former congressman here in illinois. they both sent letters to the president last week asking him to go forward with this commute. there's no timeline, though, on when or if anything official will happen. neil? neil: thank you, my friend, very, very much. again, we should know this fairly soon. >>> in the meantime, the markets are doing something they

has said he is "very strongly considering" commuting the sentence of former illinois governor rod blagojevich a 14 year prison term on multiple corruption charges. corruption convictions. president trump said he was considering a commutation for blagojevich, who then filed paperwork requesting it. the president told reporters aboard air force one last night that he thought blagojevich, a democrat, had been treated "unbelievably unfairly." in hong kong, pro-democracy protesters plan to hold a demonstration in the international airport. there was a warning for protesters at a press conference earlier. stageany protester will protests at the airport, i hope they will be peaceful and law-abiding.

on the way home he's talking about rod blagojevich, maybe commuting his sentence.at sound like someone to you who is exclusively focused on the welfare of these victims? >> we're talking about the president of the united states and his job is not exclusive to this. this was important. he came over here and he's addressing it, taking the information he gained and he's going to use it for whatever decisions he does in the future. but he's got 100 issues a day that he has to address, so when he's addressing these other issues, that's appropriate. i'm a businessman. i worked with a large firm for a long term and i never was exclusively focused on one thing and i don't think he can ever be exclusively focused on one item except when he was here, he was focused on the victims and our police force and that's the way it should be. >> when he was here he was talking about dayton mayor nan whaley as well as ohio senator sherrod brown. thank you for being with us. >> thank you very much. >> this community is going to need you in the days and weeks ahead. >> thank you, appreci

rob blagojevich, we call him b-rod here. much more ahead. stay with us. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier. ♪ work so hard ♪ give it everything you got ♪ strength of a lioness ♪ tough as a knot ♪ rocking the stage ♪ and we never gonna stop ♪ all strength, no sweat. ♪ just in case you forgot ♪ all strength. ♪ no sweat secret. all strength. no sweat. "fine. no one leaves the table "fine! we'll sleep here."." "it's the easiest, because it's the cheesiest" kraft. for the win win. our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-six vitamins and minerals. ensure, for strength and energy. >>> his base is expecting a wall, expecting illegal immigration to be stopped. this president forgets who his base i

speak of the definition of the swamp is rod blagojevich and what he did. play politics is what's wrong with politics in the state of illinois. i reminded the president and his team about what occurred here. the bribery, the extortion, the shaking down of hospital executives. shaking down racetrack owners. these were all recorded by the fbi. >> some went as far as to deliver welcome home balloons to the book leverage family here in chicago. one attorney says this back-and-forth has been particularly hard for patty blagojevich, who has been faithful in the fight to bring her husband home. >> she has kept it together for seven and a half years. to dangle this and basically to say he's coming home, and then to reverse its, it's been very hard for her. speak of the state of illinois is now looking to disbar blagojevich. his attorney call that piling on. harris? >> harris: mike tobin, thank you very much. great americans doing great things. it always catches my eye. like a school superintendent who says he has his eye on students who need his help. i will talk w

. >>> former illinois governor rod blagojevich may soon get out of prison. president trump told reporters last night that he is seriously considering commuting the corruption sentence of the former "celebrity apprentice" contestant. blagojevich has served 7 of his 14-year sentence. >>> well time now for a look at your weather for this thursday morning. >>> this tornado touched down in springfield, new jersey. video shows how hard it was to drive in the area with debris there flying around. the storm also flooded roads across the philadelphia area and as far north as connecticut where several people had to be rescued. airport delays were up to five hours long. lightning was a concern around norfolk, virginia, where a church was hit but no major damage. today's temperatures, hot across the south, cooler in the midwest. look at great falls, montana, a high of 94. >>> coming up, the growing concern about a link between e-cigarettes and seizures. >>> but first the largest immigration raid of its kind in u.s. history. details on where hundreds of undocumented immi

the mayor of chicago slamming donald trump are considering commuting rod blagojevich's sentence.he former illinois governor has been treated unbelievably unfairly tweeting this overnight. many people have asked i study the possibility of commuting his sentence and it was a very severe one. white house staff is continuing to review this matter. democrat lori lightfoot told the chicago tribune, quote, the president is a person who doesn't respect the rule of law. we have no idea what the process is for making these important decisions. rod blow boy of rich has served half of his sentence for federal corruption charges. democrats cried foul on a bill to increase penalties for harassing police officers. new york state republicans pushing a bill to make throwing water on police a felony punishable by four years in prison. after some viral video showed new york's finest getting soaked. since pouring water on crops, the bill cannot be taken up after the status of leaving the session. in the preseason moment. he lied his way into a tryout, going viral. >> outside the 15 and he is gone ta

for the second time in as many days, president trump has floated the possibility of commuting rod blagojevich'sentence. he's halfway through a 14 year sentence on federal corruption charges. last night trump tweeted many people ask that i study the possibility of commuting his sentence and that it was a very severe one. cnn has learned that the white house has been working for months on possible clemency for blagojevich. he said he's thinking about commutation. he says, quote, i think it's enough, seven years. last year illinois republican leaders urged trump not to pardon blago calling the idea, quote, stupid. >>> a fallen vietnam fighter pilot is finally home and the son who waived good-bye to him 52 years ago had the honor of bringing him back. air force colonel's jet was shoot down in laos. his body was never found. knight's son, brian, southwest airlines pilot, was just five years old when he last saw his father at dallas love field airport. fast forward to june when he got a phone call that changed his life. >> they had been searching in my dad's crash site area and they said, we did find

president trump seemingly putting on hold his could the cn of rod blagojevich.just five years old when his father roy knight left to fight in the vietnam war. he was killed in a mission in laos when his aircraft was shot down. 120 victoria secrets models signed an open letter to the ceo calling for action to protect models from sexual abuse, rape and sex trafficking. they say the allegations may not have been aimed at victoria's secret but direct at photographers. a delta airlines ban reversed that would have stopped airline customers from bringing on board pit bulls. last year pit bulls were banned after multiple attacks on passengers. but the dmt says airlines must let any breed of service dogs on board. adam gates was seen using smelling salts just before the opener with the new york giants. the patriots fans, new england patriots fans may need smelling salts. tom brady's contract has been readjusted. he could be a free agent after this upcoming season. his boston area mansion is up for sale at a whopping $39.5 million. more information on the extensive contr

the president may be backing off plans to commute governor rod blagojevich's sentence. >> this soundedod to trump in the moment. he seemed to empathy with blagojevich a little bit. then he did hear a lot from republicans about this. in part because it goes against -- whether you believe trump has fulfilled his promises to drain the swamp or not, it goes against a big part of his message in 2016, these politicians are using their jobs to make money, to bolster their own influence. you can argue whether trump has backed that promise or not. but it went against the whole premise of his 2016 campaign. >> yeah. >> we'll leave it at that. >> sort of crying out for -- >> the white house is trying to make is sound like there was with nothing to back it up. >> the free blago caucus is not a crucial element in the 2020 landscape as far as i can tell. >> >> there are a few alternates in chicago. >> perhaps. and this today from house speaker nancy pelosi, talking about her passion for the democratic agenda. >> sent legislation to the senate. moscow mitch says that he is the grim reaper. imagine de

colleagues here at cnn have learned that the president was on the verge of issuing a pardon to rod blagojevich of course the disgraced former president. apparently the president got flooded with calls from illinois politicians including darren lahoo lahood saying it's a bad idea. it sends the wrong message. the president apparently backing off saying he wished he'd had that perspective before. now, as you know blago got 14 years for a sentence of trying to sell the senate seat of barack obama when he left the senate to become president of the united states. the president apparently knows blagojevich from his days back on "the apprentice" show on nbc. so apparently we are told, yes, the president has decided to back off on that idea. however, a very interesting development. back to you. >> yes. and how it all happened. thank you very much. >> imagine if you're him today. >> that was not nice. >>> a violent turn to protests in hong kong escalating tensions with china. could this lead to another tiananmen square? that's next. that's what happens in golf nothiand in life.ily. i'm very fortunate i

says that he is very strongly considering commuting the sentence of former illinois governor rod blagojevich who is now serving a 14-year prison term on multiple federal corruption convictions he told reporters he thought the democrat had been treated unbelievably unfairly. >>> a small plane crashed in a pennsylvania neighborhood north of philadelphia killing all three people on board. it crashed shortly after takeoff. no one on the ground was injured. >>> israeli troops raided a palestinian village hours after the body of a 19-year-old soldier was with stab wounds was found near a jewish settlement benjamin netanyahu vowed the killers would be brought to justice. >>> and thousands gathered at abbey road to mark the 50th anniversary of the day the beatles were photographed on it. they sang songs as they celebrated the historic moment it's hard to believe it's been 50 years that's the news update this hour back to you. >> arguably one of the most famous if not the most famous album covers of all time >> absolutely. >> and as somebody on twitter said, if you know what an album is, you're alrea

. >> melissa: president trump is now considering commuting the sentence of rod blagojevich, telling reporters thought the former illinois governor was treated unfairly. he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2011, following a conviction of corruption charges. he was heard on wiretaps seeking to sell an appointment to barack obama's former senate seat after his election as president. it's time for some good old-fashioned deep fried foods and speeches. 22 democrats and one republican heading to the iowa state fair, and events that can make or break their presidential campaign. joe biden steps up to the soapbox at the top of the hour. we have more from des moines. i >> we just talked to montana governor steve bullock, who will be the very first presidential candidate to stump on the soapbox to iowa caucus-goers, and really try to butter them up by making his pitch for president. but he's not the only candidate in iowa today. senator elizabeth warren was at a family farm in iowa earlier. bullock has criticized both warren and senator bernie sanders forgetting to progressive and being out of to

. >> harris: sources are telling fox news former governor rod blagojevich was very close to getting outf prison last week. in fact, he made it all the way to processing before an administration official raised questions about potential opposition to freeing blago. he's serving a 14 year sentence on corruption charges, which the president has called "unbelievably unfair." we will keep you posted on what happens. this is breaking. new details on the mysterious death of jeffrey epstein. as federal agents raided his caribbean compound, the associated press is reporting that he hanged himself with a bedsheet this weekend inside his manhattan jail cell. one of the guards was assigned to check on him was not even a corrections officer. my next guest says the death raises questions. matt whitaker joins me now. he was acting attorney general and the trump administration. matt, how concerned should americans be that a man who had already been found guilty of being a sexual predator had received some sort of special treatment in terms of the legal system that allowed him to come and go from his ja

. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ >>> leading today's lightning round, deja vu for rod blagojevichmute his sentence on corruption charges including attempting to sell the senate seat vacated by barack obama. the president told reporters yesterday on air force one he's been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens. he shouldn't have said what he said. i would think there have been many politician, i'm not one of them, by the way, that have said a lot worse. president trump first mentioned a possible commutation over a year ago. you may remember that the two aren't exactly strangers. >> your harry potter facts were not accurate. who did the research? >> i have the one who said houses and classes interchangeable because i was trying to be more explicit so people can get a feel for it. >> rod, you're fired. >> harry potter facts not accurate there. tolu, why bring this up now? >> it's a little bit bizarre but it's the everybody does it defense that we've heard from the president so many times. >> but not him, of course. >> not him, but everybody else. he defended

sources telling fox news, former illinois governor rod blagojevich who was imprisoned in 2018 on federalption charges, who can forget that, made it all the way processing from discharge from colorado prison, on thursday before a member of the trump administration became concerned about public pushback, when the president appeared interested in commuting his sentence. the commutation was put on hold. according to sources, can you imagine that, make it all the way to processing. this is a report. so i don't think we have independently verified this. that would be something, wouldn't it? connell: we're just hear about this right now. the idea is, old blago is on his way out of jail, getting all his belongings back, getting out after cell. sounds like he is getting out eventually or maybe not. there is speculation the president would go through. melissa: there were reports that balloons, welcome home balloons out there today. his wife didn't put them out there. she didn't take them down either. that wouldn't make sense if it was today. i don't know. we'll see. the mystery continues with that

to see where the democrats stood, where the republicans stood, people feel very strongly about rod blagojevich. what he did was terrible, but it's a long time. it's a long time. >> reporter: are you pushing mitch mcconnell on background checks? >> i've been dealing with mitch mcconnell. we've had tremendous success with judges and judicial appointments. we're going to be up to 179 federal judges within the next two months. nobody would have believed that's possible. that was because president obama was unable to get them completed. so i inherited about 138 empty seats. nobody can believe it. we will have them almost all filled with tremendous judges and tremendously talented smart people. they'll be filled within two months. so i have 179 judges, and two supreme court justices. that's something that no one would everopathy possible. i want to thank president obama about that. >> reporter: i was talking about background checks on guns. >> we all have been speaking about it. i also want to remember that mental illness is somebody that nobody wants to talk about. these people are mentally ill. we

president complain about sherrod brown and nan whaley and julian castro and commuting the sentence of rod blagojevich, how does this help the people of el paso heal and get through this process? this was a strange day even in the standards that we've come to expect from the president. >> yeah, no doubt, john, not terribly surprising that he would still use the politics of grievance even if there was nothing to be aggrieved about at certain points. what was interesting to me was when i heard the president in el paso talk about the great respect for the office of the presidency that was shown. he was able to separate himself out of the office which on a day like this it's all about the office of the presidency. and yet he separated himself in ways that rebound against him because he thinks, oh, you can show respect to the office of the presidency, victims, family members, what have you, but i, donald trump, the president, can still go off and tweet grievance politics and be petty and inject small politics into a day that is obviously supposed to be one of mourning, of consolation. >> he is the occupanc

the president is considering commuting the sentence of former illinois governor rod blagojevich, andrrently serving a 14-year sentence for soliciting bribes to fill barack obama's senate seat because he became president. now his replacement, donald trump says there is potentially the idea of commuting this, and this brings back all the memories from "celebrity apprentice." >> let me ask you this one question. your harry potter facts were not accurate. who did the research? >> there was not a specific direction to do the research on harry potter. whether it's slithering and hoeffelpuff and ravenclaw. >> and governor, i have great respect for you, but rod, you're fired. >> thank you. >> harry potter research. something to keep in mind. and now the man he fired might get out of jail because of him. we'll stay on the story. thanks for watching "the beat" tonight. "hardball" is up next. >> bad trip. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. unable to play national unifier in the wake of last weekend's shootings, president trump reverted to the role of victim.

>>> and why is president trump so interested in possibly freeing disgraced illinois governor rod blagojevichheory. >>> welcome to thursday. it's "mtp daily." i am chuck todd here in washington. divisive may be the best way to sum up pre

president is appearing to back off plans to commute the sentence of former illinois governor rod blagojevichrom house republicans? >> i'm not sure exactly where and another president never said he was, he was actually analyzing it. i don't think the president should release the former governor. i think it's 4 out of 5 of the last governors of illinois have been in jail and have been in jail because they stood before and had a jury of their peers make a decision. i think they should serve their time and i think that's correct that the president makes that decision to make them continue to surface time. >> bret: the southern border issue, democrats expressing concern about eminent domain saying we are troubled by the lack of transparency, particularly concerned given landowners whose property was seized during proverb though my prior border barrier construction efforts told congress they did not receive just compensation for their land, they would like to know what's happening this time with efforts to build a wall. >> the democrats aren't concerned about that. they are more concerned about ha

then yesterday he tweeted this rod blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison. commuting his sentence and that it was a very severe one. white house staff is continuing the review of this matter. and you might remember blagojevich was at the center of a federal investigation more than a decade ago accused of corruption. he was convicted on more than a dozen counts, one of those including trying to sell the senate seat vacated by president barack obama. blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in 2009. he has been in prison in colorado since 2012. the president's tweet giving new hope to the family. his wife tweeted this yesterday. our president's comments on air force one make us very hopeful that our almost 11-year nightmare might soon be over. we are very grateful. and in a rare moment of agreement, the president seems to have the same view as the referenced jesse jackson as well as his son former illinois congressman. they sent a letter to the president last week saying they support the move. right now though there is no timeline as to when the pardo

people feel strongly about rod -- rodwhich -- rock lugo event -- blagojevich. what he did was terrible, but it has been a long time. >> have you been pushing mitch mcconnell on background checks? >> i have been dealing with mitch mcconnell, a man we have had tremendous success with in judicial appointments. we will be up to 179 federal judges in the next two months. nobody would have believed that was possible, and that's because president obama was unable to get them completed, so i inherited about 138 empty seats. nobody can believe it. we will have them almost all filled with tremendous judges, tremendously talented, smart people, filled within two months. 179 judges, two supreme court justices, something nobody would have ever thought possible. i want to thank very much president obama for that. >> asking about background checks for gun owners? >> i have been speaking to mitch about that. i have been speaking to everybody about that. we don't want to see crazy people owning guns, but we also want to remember that mental illness is something nobody wants to

. >>> president trump considering commuting the sentence of the former governor of illinois, rod blagojevichecause the president believes mr. blagojevich has done seven years in prison and that is enough, he believes. of course, let's not forget blagojevich was convicted on 17 counts of corruption, was sentenced to 14 years soliciting bribes, pay-to-play schemes and so on and so on. but the president believes enough is enough. by the way, among those urging the president to do this is the reverend jesse jackson. stuart: so he's pressuring him. trump's responding. ashley: seven years is enough. stuart: he could get out. interesting. all right. let's get to mississippi, where i.c.e. raids on food processing plants overnight resulted in 680 arrests. joining us is the governor of mississippi, phil bryant. governor, welcome to the program. good to have you with us this morning, sir. >> thank you, stuart. glad to be with you. stuart: now, they were illegals. got that. but they were doing jobs that a lot of americans will not take. what do you make of that argument? >> well, let me say i.c.e. is do

. >>> president trump is considering commuting rod blagojevich's sentence. corruption charges. >>> holm alone is getting a reboot, but the iconic character isn't a fan. >> ah! jillian: look at your screen right now, mccawley culkin posting this hilarious photo of himself saying quote, what updated home alone would actually look like. picture on social media, reminding many of this iconic scene. lauren on twitter said, kevin became a filthy animal. referencing one of kevin's favorite insults. it is funny. so. brian: thanks jillian. sean hannity grilling bill de blasio about his plan to tax the rich. >> you want to tax the hell out of people. >> i do. >> what should the federal tax rate be? >> for individuals 70%. over $2 million. >> 70%? >> 70%. ainsley: stuart varney says the man's plan would chill the economy. come on in. ♪ so any plans for this weekend? of course he's got plans. with labor day deals starting from 20% off, bookers are leaving summer with no regrets. it's labor day! book a place to stay and be a booker at booking.com. and my side super soft?

punishas an effort to one of our great offenders, the governor of illinois, rod blagojevich.ow the president of the united states says we ought to let him out. we sent him to prison too long. 14 years. the president thinks seven years is enough. what is the solution? i don't know. brown, columnist at the chicago sun-times. he often writes about the issue of homelessness in the city of chicago. we have had a couple of callers this morning talk about the issue of homelessness in their own cities. what have you learned covering homelessness for so long? guest: i've learned a lot about that. i've learned that homeless people are mostly people just like you and me and they are not to be feared. they are people who may be they are a little weaker in some respects. caught a bad break. having mental illness problems. havea job and just didn't the family support system to pull themselves up. a lot of mental illness as i said it also a lot of substance abuse. where does it begin and end? we have a lot of people in this country that unfortunately for frank and millsboro they need to be

punishas an effort to one of our great offenders, the governor of illinois, rod blagojevich. now the president of the united states says we ought to let him out. we sent him to prison too long. 14 years. the president thinks seven years is enough. what is the solution? i don't know. brown, columnist at the chicago sun-times. he often writes about the issue of homelessness in the city of chicago. we have had a couple of callers this morning talk about the issue of homelessness in their own cities. what have you learned covering homelessness for so long? guest: i've learned a lot about that. i've learned that homeless people are mostly people just like you and me and they are not to be feared. they are people who may be they are a little weaker in some respects. caught a bad break. having mental illness problems. havea job and just didn't the family support system to pull themselves up. a lot of mental illness as i said it also a lot of substance abuse. where does it begin and end? we have a lot of people in this country that unfortunately for frank and millsboro they need to b

now president trump says he is strongly considering commuting the 14-year prison sentence of rod blagojevichn his election as president. he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2011 following a conviction on corruption charges. trump told reporters last night he thinks the former celebrity apprentice contestant was, quote, treated unbelievably unfairly. i think it's enough, seven years, said the president. the billionaire owner of the miami dolphins and luxury fitness brands steven ross has drawn criticism for an upcoming fundraiser he plans to host this weekend for president trump at his hamptons home. it is the latest example in a growing debate over what role business leaders should play in supporting president trump's rhetoric and if they don't speak up about it. joining us now two business leaders who have done just that, the president and ceo of columbia sports wear company, tim boyle, and the founder and executive chairman of kindbars. thanks, both, gentlemen, for being here. in full disclosure i crushed a kind bar about ten minutes ago. i should tell the audience i am on the side o