you for being with us today, as you know and for anybody watching president trump has granted ross ulbrichts was important and something you fought for, why was it important to? >> i have always been a believer in fair and appropriate punishment it, i talked to president trump many times in his first administration about it, there were many nonviolent drug prisoners in federal prison that have been there for decades and never harmed anybody purposefully. in ross's case they were using his websites had, he designed a website to allow people to trade illegally on and that is against the law, does not sound like somebody have no second chance. i'm a believer that people make mistakes, using or selling drugs, deserve a second chance. has been in prison for 12 years, he was looking at never getting out for designing a website for people that sold the drugs his website, got like four years in prison. >> will: that actually sold the drugs you wanted to be with an action sold the drugs got minor sentences, i guess they convinces them to testify against him. it was not appropriate, it was a big caus

and now to ross ulbricht, who founded a dark web marketplace.er signing a raft of executive orders on inauguration day, he used his first full day in office to announce what he called "the biggest ai project in history". stargate is a new us—based artificial—intelligence company formed by three technology giants. a new american company that will invest $500 billion, at least, in al infrastructure in the united states and excessive". 0ur north america correspondent merlyn thomas reports on donald trump's first full day in office. nice to see you. some very familiar faces. president trump is back — and wants to make sure everyone knows. we had a great first term, but we're going to have an even better second term and i think we're going to do things that people will be shocked at. and many have been shocked at the presidential pardons so far. first, nearly all the january 6th rioters. and now to ross ulbricht, who founded a dark web marketplace. after signing a raft of executive orders on inauguration day, he used his first full day in office to a

he brings up ulbricht. >> and if you. >> vote for me on day one, i will commute the sentence of ross ulbricht >> you want. >> to. >> see the little thought bubble. >> i got him. so ulbricht was also a symbol for the crypto movement, as his site used bitcoin for its transactions. and we saw this election cycle. the crypto industry spend more than $100 million on their preferred candidates textbook. donald trump right. did you give me something that helps me or votes money? i'll give you what you want, no matter how dangerous to the rest of the public. nbc news justice reporter and author of sedition hunters how january 6th broke the justice system. ryan riley is here. plus, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi, msnbc senior national security analyst frank figliuzzi is back with me at the table. former federal prosecutor, msnbc legal analyst christie greenberg is back. ryan riley, i start with you. i think the political transaction is obvious. what's amazing to me is the metamorphosis of donald trump, who was so triggered by any notion that russia had done anything to he

when he brings up ulbricht. >> and if you vote for me on day one, i will commute the sentence of ross ulbrichtought bubble i got him. so ulbricht was also a symbol for the crypto movement, as his site used bitcoin for its transactions. and we saw this election cycle. the crypto industry spend more than $100 million on their preferred candidates textbook donald trump right? do you give me something that helps me or votes money? i'll give you what you want, no matter how dangerous to the rest of the public. the transactional president is where we begin the hour with some of our favorite experts and friends. nbc news justice reporter and author of sedition hunters how january 6th broke the justice system. ryan riley is here. plus, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi.y analyst frank figliuzzi is back and with me at the table. former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst christie greenberg is back. ryan riley, i start with you. i think the political transaction is obvious. what's amazing to me is the metamorphosis of donald trump, who was so triggered by any notion tha

and yesterday donald trump pardoned ross ulbricht, the creator of $1 billion, billion dollar dark webketplace called silk road, which one fbi agent described as the amazon of the criminal drug trade. the website used cryptocurrency, which was enough to make this worldwide drug dealer a hero of the cryptocurrency cult that donald trump is now a leader of. after first opposing cryptocurrency. ross ulbricht's website promised users encryption and anonymity to buy and sell anything and everything, including heroin. in 2015, a federal criminal jury found ross ulbricht guilty of all seven counts against him, including conspiring to distribute narcotics and conspiring to commit money laundering and what's known as a kingpin charge crimes that earned him multiple life sentences. during his sentencing, a federal judge also found there was, quote, ample and unambiguous evidence that ross ulbricht commissioned murder for hire, paying for hits on at least five people who threatened his criminal empire. that man was in prison during donald trump's first term, and donald trump did not pardon the wo

the bitcoin pioneer pardon donald trump announcing that ross ulbricht will go from life in prison to time served. he's the guy who created a dark web black market called silk road and used it to sell drugs and launder money. plus, we'll be live outside the d.c. jail where more than a dozen january 6th rioters are still waiting to be released. after that blanket pardon from trump. what one man who rammed a pipe at police officers said just moments after getting out. and more on that. breaking news. in tennessee, two students shot at their high school in antioch, according to senior law enforcement officials briefed on the incident. we'll have the latest from nashville. also getting the memo, a directive just obtained by nbc news, was sent to the doj workforce, calling on them to prosecute local officials who resist, obstruct or otherwise fail to comply with deportation orders. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. we begin with the controversy surrounding trump's latest pardon of a man who ran a major site on the dark web. let's bring in nbc news senior

of last year's election. >> and if you vote for me on day one, i will commute the sentence of ross ulbricht to a sentence of time served. >> libertarians love them some russ ulbricht. here's the thing. you hear what trump said there? commute his sentence to time served. but he didn't just commute a sentence, which, by the way, might have actually even been defensible, or commute it to a shorter sentence ten years, 15 years. he issued a total pardon for a guy who facilitated the sale of an estimated $200 million of illegal drugs. when he gets. >> up in. >> front of a microphone and pretends to be upset about kids dying of overdoses like they have been in record numbers, and they were in record numbers under his administration. do you really believe he's that upset about it when he goes and pardons this guy? on day one, a guy who was facilitating opioids, getting into the veins of thousands of people. do you think he cares? it was, of course, a straight political pro quo. don't take my word for it. take donald trump's. i just called the mother of ross, william ulbricht, to let her know that i

ross ulbricht. he ran a website called silk road if you've ever been. well, everyone's been on amazon the way you would go on amazon and order soap or a book. people go on silk road and order hundreds of millions of dollars of drugs, of hacking activities, of all sorts. it was a marketplace for crime. and he was tried to a jury. he was convicted on all counts. the judge sentenced him to life, and now he is out for this purely, almost overtly political rationale by donald trump. i think it completely undermines what doj is all about. and he's letting go a very dangerous individual. >> he's also fulfilling a campaign promise. he went to the libertarian party convention. they are for drug legalization. they wanted him released. and so he's following through. >> aaron, what is pulling john bolton secret service detail accomplish other than possibly putting him in danger? i mean, does it is it to send a message to people who criticize the president? >> i don't know the inner thinking that made that decision, but if john bolton needs. security protection, bec

in another move mr trump says he's issued a full and unconditional pardon to ross ulbricht, who foundedark web marketplace, silk road. ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison a decade ago for running the site, where illegal drugs, stolen passports and hacking equipment were sold using bitcoin. it was shut down by the fbi in 2013. the president described those who'd put ulbricht behind bars as "scum" and i. lunatics" and mr trump's announcement of huge investment in al infrastructure came in the last few hours and that it could create tens of thousands of jobs. 0ur north america technology correspondent lily jamali gave this analysis i think it's significant. ultimately we're talking about a $500 billion investment over a couple of years but we'll start with that first $100 billion — and these are major players well—known to people here in silicon valley. we're talking about 0pen ai which helped kick off the ai revolution from the consumer perspective with the advent of chatgpt which they make. as well as 0racle, longtime player here, and softbank which is run by masayoshi son, known as

and now to ross ulbricht, who founded a dark web marketplace. a raft of executive orders on inauguration day, he used his first full day in office to announce what he called "the biggest ai project in history". stargate is a new us—based artificial—intelligence company formed by three technology giants. a new american company that will invest $500 billion, at least, in al infrastructure in the united states and very, very quickly, moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 american jobs almost immediately. the planned announcement turned into a more off—the—cuff press conference. are you open to elon buying tiktok? i would be if he wanted to buy it, yeah. on your inauguration... i'd like larry to buy it, too. i have the right to make a deal. never — by the way, russia never would have gone into ukraine. i had a very strong understanding with putin. earlier that day, president trump attended an inaugural prayer service. 0ccasionally, clergy are subtle in their sermons to new presidents. but not this time. millions have put their trust in you. and

and now to ross ulbricht, who founded a dark web marketplace.fter signing a raft of executive orders on inauguration day, he used his first full day in office to announce what he called "the biggest ai project in history". stargate is a new us—based artificial—intelligence company formed by three technology giants. a new american company that will invest $500 billion, at least, in al infrastructure in the united states and very, very quickly, moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 american jobs almost immediately. the planned announcement turned into a more off—the—cuff press conference. are you open to elon buying tiktok? i would be if he wanted to buy it, yeah. i'd like larry to buy it, too. i have the right to make a deal. never — by the way, russia never would have gone into ukraine. i had a very strong understanding with putin. earlier that day, president trump attended an inaugural prayer service. 0ccasionally, clergy are subtle in their sermons to new presidents. but not this time. millions have put their trust in you. and, as you tol

and now to ross ulbricht, who founded a dark web marketplace.fter signing a raft of executive orders on inauguration day, he used his first full day in office to announce what he called "the biggest ai project in history". stargate is a new us—based artificial—intelligence company formed by three technology giants. a new american company that will invest $500 billion, at least, in al infrastructure in the united states and very, very quickly, moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 american jobs almost immediately. the planned announcement turned into a more off—the—cuff press conference. are you open to elon buying tiktok? i would be if he wanted to buy it, yeah. on your inauguration... i'd like larry to buy it, too. i have the right to make a deal. never — by the way, russia never would have gone into ukraine. i had a very strong understanding with putin. earlier that day, president trump attended an inaugural prayer service. 0ccasionally, clergy are subtle in their sermons to new presidents. but not this time. millions have put their trust

and late today, the president pardoned ross ulbricht, the founder of silk road. that's the underground website for selling drugs. ulbricht had been sentenced to life in prison in 2015 after a high profile prosecution that highlighted the role of the internet in illegal markets, where drug dealers and others reportedly conducted more than $200 million in illicit trade using bitcoin. president trump says he called ulbricht's mother to inform her about the pardon. president trump, also setting his focus on artificial intelligence, announcing a $500 billion investment to build ai infrastructure. the announcement comes on the same day the president rolled back ai guardrails put in place by former president joe biden. ktvu lamonica peters reports tonight on the effect it could have here in the bay area. it is a story we hope to have for you a little bit later on tonight in this newscast. now, still to come here at 11, an election office in oregon vandalized. coming up in tonight's west coast rap, the search for those responsible and the damage left behind. also a major

ross ulbricht had been serving a life sentence on charges related to the shadowy e-commerce site calledroad. it's a site the u.s. justice department dubbed, quote, the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet today, unquote. the website, which launched in january 2011 and was shut down two and a half years later, allowed users to anonymously trade almost anything. this was done in near-total secrecy, using bitcoin. ulbricht, dubbed by a judge as, quote, the kingpin of a worldwide digital drug trafficking enterprise, has been in prison since 2013, when he was arrested on charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and computer hacking, among other charges. he was convicted on all of them in court. prosecutors also claimed that ulbricht had also solicited the murders of people whom he considered threats, but they acknowledged there was no evidence that any killings took place. the case sparked protests and got the attention of donald trump, who called the sentence, quote, ridiculous, and with the stroke of a pen this past tuesday, ulbricht's life long senten

ross ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015.rump pledged during his campaign to pardon ulbricht. he was championed as a hero in the crypto and libertarian communities. but prosecutors say the silk road was the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet. today, president trump announced a new investment worth up to $500 billion to help advance artificial intelligence. the leaders of san francisco based openai, santa clara founded oracle, and softbank joined him at the white house. the three companies are partnering to build new data centers as part of the project, called stargate. oracle chairman larry ellison says the construction is already underway. >> the first of them are under construction in texas. each building is a half 1,000,000ft■. there are ten buildings currently, you know, currently being built, but that will expand to 20 and other locations beyond the abilene location, which is which is our first location. >> for months, ai leaders have been warning that more data centers, chips and resou

>> the president, already pardoning hundreds of people, including the january 6th rioters, and ross ulbricht the san francisco man convicted of running silk road, a massive online drug marketplace. >> it's fascinating that the president has taken on day one to go not only pardon the january 6th defendants in blanket, but also mr. ulbricht, who was facing a life sentence for being a major player in the distribution of drugs in this country. >> trump, pledging during his campaign to pardon ulbricht, who had been championed as a hero within the crypto and libertarian communities since his conviction in 2015. trump on tuesday calling the sentence ridiculous. >> this pardon sends the message that the next four years are going to be a very tense relationship between president trump and the department of justice. >> and because these pardons come so early in trump's second term, experts say it could cause chaos. >> how are people in the u.s. attorney's office going to look at this pardon that invested themselves not only in the january 6th prosecutions, but now in the ulbricht silk road prosecution

>> the president, already pardoning hundreds of people, including the january 6th rioters, and ross ulbricht, the san francisco man convicted of running silk road, a massive online drug marketplace. >> it's fascinating that the president has taken on day one to go not only pardon the january 6th defendants in blanket, but also mr. ulbricht, who was facing a life sentence for being a major player in the distribution of drugs in this country. >> trump, pledging during his campaign to pardon ulbricht, who had been championed as a hero within the crypto and libertarian communities since his conviction in 2015. trump on tuesday calling the sentence ridiculous. >> this pardon sends the message that the next four years are going to be a very tense relationship between president trump and the department of justice. >> and because these pardons come so early in trump's second term, experts say it could cause chaos. >> how are people in the u.s. attorney's office going to look at this pardon that invested themselves not only in the january 6th prosecutions, but now in the ulbricht silk road prosecutio

ross ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015. pledged during his campaign to pardon ulbricht. he was championed as a hero in the crypto and libertarian communities. but prosecutors say the silk road was the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet. today, president trump announced a new investment worth up to $500 billion to help advance artificial intelligence. the leaders of san francisco based openai, santa clara founded oracle, and softbank joined him at the white house. the three companies are partnering to build new data centers as part of the project, called stargate. oracle chairman larry ellison says the construction is already underway. >> the first of them are under construction in texas. each building is a half 1,000,000ft■. there are ten buildings currently, you know, currently being built, but that will expand to 20 and other locations beyond the abilene location, which is which is our first location. >> for months, ai leaders have been warning that more data centers, chips and resources

. >> and if you vote for me on day one, i will commute the sentence of ross ulbricht, who has sentence of time served he's already served 11 years. we're going to get him home. we're going to get him. >> home. >> well, that was donald trump back in may of last year, speaking at the libertarian party's national convention in d.c. and now he's made good on that campaign promise to pardon the founder of the dark web marketplace silk road, ross william ulbricht, was accused of creating the shadowy e-commerce site that the justice department once described as get this, the most sophisticated. there we go. the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet. according to trial evidence, public statements and other court documents, the now defunct website and marketplace, which the government says ulbricht founded in 2011, allowed users to anonymously trade drugs and other illegal goods and services in near total secrecy. and they did it using bitcoin from 2011 to 2013, law enforcement agents made more than 60 individual purchases of controlled substances. they did this

. >> and late today, the president pardoned ross ulbricht, the founder of the silk road, an underground website for selling drugs. ulbricht had been sentenced to life in prison back in 2015 after a high profile prosecution that highlighted the role of the internet when it comes to illegal markets. coming up on ktvu news at 630, candidates lining up to be the next district attorney in alameda county. plus, stopping human trafficking, why so much attention is being directed at the bay area in the nths and dales says it is saddened to announce that it will be closing its flagship store at the san francisco center on market street this coming spring. the store has been at the location for nearly 20 years. bloomingdale's other bay area locations, palo alto and san jose, will remain open. a stabbing suspect seen on body cam video. being bitten by a police canine has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of san jose and the police department. san jose police say they were called to investigate a reported stabbing at an apartment complex in 2023. police say the suspect, fernando

pardon, the san francisco man who was convicted for running the silk road drug market online, ross ulbrichts sentenced to life in prison in 2015. trump pledged during his campaign to pardon ulbricht. ulbricht was was championed as a hero in the crypto and libertarian communities. but prosecutors say the silk road was the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet. >> now it's your morning money report on the first full day of the trump administration. wall street surged. all three major indices shot up, with the dow up by more than 500 points. but what does it mean for the long term? what can we expect and how can you protect your money? with president trump promising tariffs on china and tax cuts for americans, there are a lot of unknowns about how that could affect the economy. abc seven news anchor dan ashley spoke with george noceti, a bay area financial expert with morgan stanley. >> well, here we are with president trump in office once again, he's off to a fast start with a lot of executive actions being signed. the question will be what impact they will hav

ross ulbricht. ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015.mpaign to pardon him. ulbricht was championed as a hero in the crypto and libertarian communities, but prosecutors say the silk road was the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet. bart is facing a lawsuit because of the death of a woman who was pushed in frof a train last year. a man allegedly pushed 74 year old corazon dandan to her death at the powell street station. her family told abc seven news she was heading home from her night shift as a phone operator at the marriott in union square. attorneys plan to announce the lawsuit at 1030 this morning at that station. the suit claims bart is responsible for allowing crime at its stations and trains. >> in today's gma first look, police have arrested four people in connection with the burglary of cincinnati bengals quarterback joe burrows home during a monday night football game. here's abc news reporter will reeve. >> in this morning's gma first look, a major development in one of the nfl's superstar bur

the following day, ross ulbricht was also pardoned.o commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. on this, donald trump posted, "the scum that worked "to convict him were some of the same lunatics "who were involved in the modern day weaponisation of "government against me. "he was given two life sentences plus a0 years. "ridiculous," said the president. and on his return to power, there's one word that donald trump has been using a lot. and i will win for you. we are going to win like never before. right now, donald trump is winning. he's president. and his political success rests in part on a sense of grievance that america's institutions are against him and can't be trusted. but with each attack on the justice system, with each pardon, faith in the fairness of american justice is being tested and the distinction between law and politics becomes harder to make out. saturday night is burns night — across scotland many are gathering to celebrate the life and work of robert burns sitting down to haggis, neeps, and tat

the bitcoin pioneer pardon donald trump announcing that ross ulbricht will go fro

president trump pardoning the founder of the dark web site silk road, ross ulbricht, created the site, which federal prosecutors called the, quote, most extensive criminal marketplace on the internet. today. ulbricht was 11 years into serving a life sentence before the president's pardon. a break in a multi-state investigation into high profile home burglaries targeting professional athletes. four men have now been arrested in ohio. the arrests may be tied to the break in at the home of cincinnati bengals quarterback joe burrow, according to a criminal complaint. an old lsu shirt and a bengals hat were found in the suspect's car. all right. still ahead on cnn this morning, president donald trump throwing tiktok a lifeline. but how long could it last? democratic congressman jake auchincloss will join us to discuss how the president is handling the tiktok ban and other sweeping actions in the opening days of his presidency. plus, the department of homeland security now announcing new guidelines allowing immigration raids in sensitive places. >> we're going to force the immigration law.

president trump has pardoned the founder of the silk road dark web e-commerce site, ross ulbricht had been serving a life sentence. he was found guilty almost ten years ago of money laundering and drug trafficking. serious charges. ulbricht was an early enthusiast of bitcoin, and some activists in that community did push for his release. happening now, a new blaze is spreading across southern california. it erupted east of los angeles county overnight, fueled by resurgent santa ana winds. officials say the fire is not threatening structures at this time, and it is spreading fairly slowly. no mandatory evacuation orders are in effect. and new this morning, lawyers for actor and director justin baldoni have released footage from the set of it ends with us, in an attempt to refute sexual harassment claims that actress blake lively made in a lawsuit. lively is suing baldoni, alleging harassment on set. baldoni has denied all claims. >> i can't bear. >> it on you today. >> i'm probably getting a spray tan on you. it smells good. >> well, it's not that. it's my body makeup. >> but show noth

the pardon of drug kingpin ross ulbricht. i want to read a summary of the crimes for which mr. ulbricht was imprisoned and raise the question of why the president, who had expressed concern about drug running and said that his top goal was to protect the american people would choose to do this on the second day of his presidency. mr. ulbricht launched silk road in 2011 and turned it into one of the most popular outposts of the so-called dark web, a hidden corner of the internet that people can access only through a special browser. silk road facilitated over 1.5 million transactions, generating more than $200 million in revenue from the sale of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and other drugs. $200 million. users transacted with bitcoin and post amazon style product ratings. in 2013 the fbi arrested ulbricht at a san francisco library and charged him with running silk road. in court, prosecutors presented evidence that mr. ulbricht did also solicit the murders of people he considered threats to his business, though he was never tried on the murder for hire charges and there wa

we saw this in the new york times, trump pardons creator of silk road drug marketplace, ross aldrich -- ulbrichtcreated a site to sell heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances. it says that mr. trump fulfilled the promise he made repeatedly on the campaign trail i see accorded political contributions from the crypto industry, which spent more than $100 million to influence the outcome of the election, bitcoin pioneer, age 40, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015, after he was convicted on charges that included distributing products of the internet. and this is beverly from ohio, democrat. good morning. caller: hello. i'm very upset of his pardons of the january 6 people. they destroyed the capital. they did millions of dollars of damage, and he pardoned them and they wounded and almost killed the policeman, and then, he is going after what he calls illegal aliens if they steal something, and he says they came from prison and insane asylums. that is absolutely false and not true. and he pardoned all the january 6 people, and then he is going after these mi