top of the hour, 10:00 eastern, good morning, i'm poppy harlow. so glad you're with me. a shake-up before the showdown. michael bloomberg qualified for tomorrow's democratic debate in nevada. the newest national poll shows bernie sanders surging to the lead with 31%, but look at right behind him, that is the former new york city mayor michael bloomberg at 19%. now, he will go toe to toe with his political rivals taking aim at the hundreds of millions of dollars he is shelling out on this election. he's also joining the stage following weeks of intense criticism over past comments on controversial policies, like stop and frisk, that he enacted

as mayor here in new york city. and in a move to perhaps get ahead of those attack, his campaign just released a new criminal justice reform proposal. let's go to las vegas, that's where we find again this hour our arlette signs. tie take us through all the numbers and what they tell us. >> reporter: this new national poll is bringing a new face to the debate stage, with michael bloomberg now qualifying to appear in his first debate against his democratic rival. but the poll is also showing us major gains for both michael bloomberg and bernie sanders. if you look at where the democratic field stands now, according to this poll on the national level, bernie sanders is at the top of the pack. he's gone up nine points since this poll in december, showing he's far and away the leader right now of this democratic field. now, right behind him is michael bloomberg. he's actually up 15 points from december. that is the biggest gain in this

poll. and then joe biden has dropped quite a bit, nine points to third place. you also see drops for warren and buttigieg, klobuchar has climbed a little bit. but while bernie sanders and michael bloomberg are leading the democratic pack now, when you take a look at the head to head matchups, between these democrats and president trump, this poll shows that people believe that joe biden is the one who has the best chance of defeating president trump. he is leading in the head to head matchups, 50 to the president's 44. he's followed by michael bloomberg and bernie sanders. so this new poll gives us a bit of a snapshot of the race after those first two contests, and as michael bloomberg is now going to face his democratic rivals for first time on the debate stage. he has come under a lot of criticism, we're going to see how much incoming fire he might be getting on that debate stage and some cnn presidential town halls taking place here in las vegas this evening for pete buttigieg, bernie sanders, amy klobuchar. we'll see if they decide to take aim at michael bloomberg as

well. >> we'll see. arlette, thank you very much. appreciate it. minutes ago, bloomberg released a new criminal justice reform plan. let's go to abby phillip who has some of the details. these plans are always important when they come from candidates, but i think the timing of this coming right now, when he's been under a lot of scrutiny for his stop and frisk policy and just recent apology about it in new york city and then about his comments on red lining, et cetera, what does this plan include? >> that's absolutely right. the subtext here matters quite a bit. you know, bloomberg is under fire for these comments he made about stop and frisk, a policy that exploded under his tenure as mayor. and he -- in an old video seemed to imply that the point was to in fact target minority use, but now with this criminal justice reform plan, you see bloomberg really aligning himself with where the democratic party is, virtually all of the other candidates proposed similar proposals, we're talking about

broadly reshaping the way the criminal justice system addresses these racial disparities, in terms of sentencing, and in terms of the prison population. and also in terms of policing. his proposal addresses the use of force and proposes raising the standard for the use of force across the country. he proposes, you know, mandating implicit bias training for police, and also decriminalizing marijuana use and possession. that is a big thing for virtually all of the presidential candidates. and it really has specific resonance for bloomberg, especially as someone who was a mayor of a major city. it also aims to cut the prison population by half, by 2030, and reforms police forces with a history of abuse and then he also ties a lot of this back to president obama trying to reinvigorate an obama era program called my brother's keeper. the purpose of that being to address the sort of things that will prevent young minority youth from entering into the

criminal justice system in the first place. but as you pointed out, poppy, a lot of this is about the bloomberg campaign trying to get ahead of what is likely to be a lot of attacks coming from his democratic rivals on his history with the issue of criminal justice. and some of these proposals just put bloomberg in line with his democratic rivals and also it is a form of a repudiation of the stop and frisk program that he defended up until very recently, poppy. >> very recently. abby, stay right there. let's bring in cnn editor at large chris cillizza. thank you for being here. let's take a minute to listen to this. sanders has not been afraid to attack democrats throughout the process. bloomberg not afraid to fight back. here is a clip of this ad. >> for people just listening, it

talks about the bernie bros, the tactics of some bernie sanders supporters. how do you see this unfolding on stage between senator sanders and now number two in the polls, michael bloomberg? >> yeah, poppy, it is kind of amazing the whole bernie online community hasn't become an issue until now. candidly in 2016, hillary clinton sought to make it an issue. this was part of the race then. it is a big part of the race now. yeah, i think bloomberg will say, look, bernie, these are the people who support you. what do you say to them? sanders has not had the answer to those questions yet. that said, i would rather be bernie in this race with his issues than bloomberg. solely because to abby's point, the reason we get a criminal justice plan today is because michael bloomberg tomorrow can say, i have this plan, so all the past things i said about stop and frisk and red lining and various other things, those all pale in comparis tonigon to

new plan. i'm interested to see how bloomberg approaches the debate tomorrow night. i think some of it will be dictated. does he become the center of attacks? we have seen elizabeth warren be that person at times, joe biden be that person at times, pete buttigieg be that person at times. not really seen bernie sanders see that person. we haven't seen michael bloomberg. who gets the incoming is really important. >> molly what is fascinating not only is the 9 point drop that biden suffered in this new national poll, but the african-american support in the quinnipiac polling about a week ago that has declined for biden by 20 points, and the increase in african-american support nationally, molly that bloomberg has seen, despite all the questions about stop and frisk et cetera. what do you make of that? >> well, look, african-american voters were democratic voters like everybody else. they're just asphyxiated on electability as the rest of the

democratic primary electorate. perhaps more so. i think, you know if you're an african-american voter for a long time you haven't had the luxury of waiting for a candidate who is perfect on all of your issues. you want a candidate who can win, you want a candidate who represents what you see as the mainstream of the democratic party. so fundamentally i think we just see african-american voters making the same calculation with regard to joe biden as the other democratic voters were making in iowa, new hampshire, looking at biden's performance, having doubts about whether he would be able to be on the debate stage with donald trump and win the election, despite, you know, those head to head national matchup numbers saying i'm not sure about this guy. we see, you know, the air coming out of his balloon with every demographic group in which he was previously strong, that's what happened to him in iowa, new hampshire. and the big danger for him because he has regarded that loyalty with african-american voters, which he has earned, which is very deep, comes from his history on civil rights as well as his partnership with

barack obama, but if those voters start to conclude they don't think he can win, that's a big flashing red danger sign for joe biden. >> abby, you spent time -- not only have you reported on mayor pete buttigieg's presidential bid, but you spent a lot of time in south bend doing actual reporting on his impact on his term there in office, on the town, on factories, on jobs, et cetera. what do you make of the fact -- if we have the polling, let's pull it up. stunning to see, now he's coming in at 8% in this national poll after two incredibly impressive turns in iowa and new hampshire. do we know why? >> well, it raises some real questions about the underlying strategy that the buttigieg campaign has been relying on, which is that they believed that if they performed really well in iowa and new hampshire, that voters broadly would give them a second look. that argument was often deployed when they were answering questions about their lack of minority support. but it was actually a pretty

broad argument for the entire democratic electorate, especially as we approach super tuesday when the race becomes more nationalized. the drop you're seeing there is really calling into question whether that strategy actually will work for him. and also whether or not they factored in the possibility that bloomberg would suddenly take a lot of this air out of the balloon. i think for a lot of these candidates, bloomberg is kind of out of left field factor here that is undermined their broader strategy from the beginning, and it is going to make it really difficult because, you know, buttigieg needs to not only do well in nevada, in south carolina, he needs to haverolli hill type of momentum going into super tuesday and it is hard to see that happening given where his numbers stand at the moment. >> he needs snowball momentum and in a good sense of the phrase. cillizza, you wrote about this in your column last night. it is not just bloomberg with all that money and all those ads

in the airwaves, tom steyer pulling a double digit in nevada and in south carolina. >> yep. >> what that means for the likes of buttigieg. >> it is easy to get lost in the -- i think over $400 million in ad spending of bloomberg, a massive sum of money, but second place by a long shot is tom steyer, a billionaire who spent lots of time and money in nevada and south carolina. most polling done before iowa and new hampshire, so we haven't had that much data in nevada and south carolina since. but before, he's in theed my double digits in both places. now that the race turned to these states, steyer was nowhere in iowa or new hampshire, does his support stay, is it just people who saw his ad or it people who are really with him. if it goes, i think some of it will go if it goes, where does it go? is it buttigieg, is it warren, is it sanders? it is hard to take -- steyer's

appeal is not easily put in a package. it is hard to say it will transfer over to this one -- he is someone with -- if you're talking about the most combined support in south carolina and nevada, it is sanders, biden and steyer right now at least. we'll see what happens. we got four or five days left before the caucuses. he is a real factor, no matter what. >> yeah. so when you couple all that together, finally, molly, amy klobuchar, up in this poll to 9%, she has that klomentum if you will as it has been dubbed after the last debate. she has to perform well in this debate tomorrow night. but, again, bloomberg eats away at any sort of klobuchar gains, doesn't he, in terms of the more moderate lane? >> it seems like it. what amy klobuchar doesn't have is hundreds of millions of dollars to get her message out and raise her visibility with those same kind of voters who might find her appeal to the same kind of qualities, effectiveness, moderation, pragmatism, that's her message as well.

she clearly is getting crowded out on the airwaves. we have seen her be a very effective debater when it comes to sort of landing zingers on the other candidates. so i have to think she is going to be looking to maximize. and she has said, she welcomes bloomberg being on that debate stage because she wants to have the opportunity to take him on. so i would definitely watch her on tomorrow night. >> okay. thanks, guys. appreciate it. >> thanks, poppy. also, in addition to the debate, join cnn for a series of live town halls with several of the top 2020 democrats. this is all taking place in las vegas, ahead of this weekend's nevada caucuses. the two-night event starts tonight, continues on thursday, 8:00 eastern only right here on cnn. ahead for us, soon the judge in the roger stone case is set to hear from the defense and the justice department after a pretty wild week of back and forth over this sentencing. a week that saw the president accuse the judge of bias and several prosecutors completely quit the case.

we'll tell you what's ahead on that. also, the director of a hospital in wuhan, china, the city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak died as a result of the virus. it marks a tragic first in the ep epidemic. the boy scouts of america file for bankruptcy. what does this mean for victims. now, we know the trump strategy-

try to win by attacking, distorting, dividing. mr. president: it. won't. work. newspapers report bloomberg is the democrat trump fears most. as president, universal healthcare that lets people keep their coverage if they like it. a record on job creation. a doable plan to combat climate change. i led a complex, diverse city through 9-11 and i have common sense plans to move america away from chaos to progress! i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

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general bill barr asking him to pull back on his tweets, and criticism that is the president, president trump is not stopping. he's stepping that up. this morning, not content just to tear into the stone sentencing guidelines, but also arguing that the whole case should be thrown out and there should be another trial. let's go to our political correspondent sara murray who joins me. they will have a conference call with the doj, with the defense for roger stone. this as the president calls for a completely new trial. >> reporter: well, the president is not just calling for a new trial, roger stone has filed a motion with the judge, under seal, asking for a new trial. we don't know exactly what his reasoning is there. and this is the first time that amy roman jackson will have a chance to talk to both after the four prosecutors who were originally on this case withdrew. it is supposed to be a

scheduling call, so you would think they would have a discussion about the sentencing, that is set for thursday and whether it is possible for every party to move forward on that time frame. but she is the judge, overseeing this case. she can ask the parties on the call whatever she wants about what transpired in the last couple of weeks. >> threat's that, we'll see what happens there. on top of this, there is a group of more than a thousand federal judges now calling an emergency meeting, this is as reported by usa today, because they think, sa sara, that the justice department is in crisis. i should note this is being led by a bush appointed u.s. district court judge. >> reporter: that's right. i think that the sentiment we heard from the judges who do speak out is that they are not -- they don't identify themselves by who appointed them. they identify as independent judges who have lifetime

appointments, there to uphold the law. this association that spoke with usa today expressed they're concerned about intervention, intervention from president trump in politically sensitive cases. i think that tells you how seriously judges are taking this. the moves we have seen from bill barr and what we have seen from president trump on twitter and as you pointed out, even now, trump is tweeting about the judges overseaing roger stone's case today, plenty to chew over. >> sara, thank you. we'll see who happens on the phone call in less than an hour. let's talk about all this with michael zelton. you wrote a fascinating piece about this. there are people who said it was extreme who said it was harsh. if they're in that camp, you have a message for them about what you argue was actually required under the justice department rules, set by former attorney general jeff sessions.

>> that's right. under the sessions sentencing memorandum, in 2017, prosecutors are obligated to charge the most serious offense and then seek the stiffest sentence if they're convicted of that. that is a difference from what holder had previously which asks for more individualized sentencing. so the irony here is that barr sides with the holder theory of individualized sentencing, versus the sessions theory of seek the maximum, which is what the seven to nine years derives from. >> so if that's the case, why then was barr surprised by the stone sentencing recommendation or so surprised to make a move of intervention like this? >> that's the $64,000 question. in my experience, in the main justice department where i was the section chief, when there was a political case or a case of high visibility with the u.s. attorney, we went back and forth

and back and forth until there was consensus about what it was we were going to file and then it was filed. this notion of surprise is in fact very surprising because normally these things are all ironed out behind closed doors and then that which is filed is the final word. so barr will have to testify as to how it came to pass that there was this miscommunication between the u.s. attorney's office and main justice that led to this need to remove the original sentencing memorandum and replace it with something more watered down. >> but on your point about watered down, because this initial sentencing recommendation by those prosecutors who left the case after barr and levine was seven to nine years. the new ask of the judge is something less than that. they called that excessive and unwarranted. there is not a years or months number tied to what they're requesting in terms of the sentence for stone. is that odd to you? >> yes. normally speaking, in a federal

case, the sentencing memorandum asks the judge for a specific sentence. it will say that we think that what is appropriate here is -- we saw that in the mueller case. he said we thought a sentence of 0 to 6 months in flynn or 18 months in another case is the appropriate sentence. that's normal. here, when the new sentencing memorandum was filed that barr directed. it said to the court, we think 7 to 9 years is excessive, but we are not going to make a specific recommendation as to what is appropriate. we're going to say you make up your mind. what is odd about that is that of course it is up to the judge to make up her mind. that's always been the case. they only make nonbinding recommendations, they can't bind a judge. and so it is, again, something that barr has to explain how it came to pass, that there was this miscommunication or whether it was not a miscommunication, but it was barr knuckling under

the president's pressure and that's what caused this to be changed. that's the real issue. >> he is set to testify under oath before congress, the end of next month. i'm sure he'll get those questions. michael, so good to have you as always, thank you very much. >> thank you, poppy. the wait is over. around 160 americans in southern california finally get to go home after weeks in isolation. but for hundreds of others, their quarantine is just getting started. ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. expedia.

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well, this morning the chinese government is facing more criticism that it isn't doing enough to protect front line medical workers who are treating patients infected with the deadly novel coronavirus. it comes as the director of wuchang hospital, that's in wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, became the first hospital director to die from the virus. he was one of more than 1700 healthcare workers in china infected with it. joining me now is kristie lu stout who joins us from hong kong. this is a major concern for those fighting the coronavirus. it was a few weeks ago the doctor, the whistle-blower, in the middle of all of this, succumbed to it. >> just over a week after his death, the virus has claimed another high profile medical

victim, the director of a hospital in wuhan is also a neurosurgeon. his name is liu zhiming and he died this morning from the virus. his death underscores the danger medical workers in china have been facing as many are overwhelmed and underprotected. china says it will designate all of them who died while fighting the virus as martyrs of at epicenter of the outbreak. it is all but sealed off from the rest of the country, even harsher lockdown measures in place, requiring millions of people in the province to stay at home 24/7 with food and daily necessities delivered to their door. almost -- the scale is breathtaking, poppy. almost half of china's population, some 780 million people now living under some form of quarantine or travel restriction. the outbreak is a health crisis. it is also turning into an economic mess. scores of businesses, factories,

are not fully operational in china, given the harsh restrictions on movement. that's affecting the global supply chain. for all the sectors that reach so deep into china, textile, apparel, auto, toys, technology, that warning from apple, a warning that investors that the virus is hurting its business more than expected. poppy? >> yeah, much more. thank you very much for that repo reporting live in hong kong. so this morning, 13 americans who have tested positive for coronavirus are being treated at a medical facility. this is in omaha, nebraska. meantime, about 160 others are expected to be released today from their 14-day quarantine at a marine corps air station in southern california. joining me this morning is dr. carlos del rio, professor of medicine and global health at emory university. thank you for being with me. let's begin with this news that an american passenger evacuated on one of the u.s. charter jets overnight from a cruise ship that was docked in japan told

cnn that she didn't know that there were others contaminated on that flight until she landed. how big is a concern is that for you and should it be for her and others? >> i don't think it is much of a concern. i can tell you that the cdc and the people that plan the evacuation and bringing home those 400 americans did a very, very good job. this was a very carefully planned operation in which people were tested, people were put -- those infected were placed in sort of isolation compartments, areas in the plane, and they were separated from the noninfected individuals. and then they will be -- those infected as you mentioned have been taken to the university of nebraska to the biocontainment unit for management and those not infected kept in quarantine either in san antonio or california. so i think what the u.s. is trying to do is prevent further spread in this country from those individuals. the u.s. up until now had 15

confirmed infections. with this number brought in, it almost doubles the number of people we have in the country. >> and when it comes to what kristy reported, the death of the hospital director this morn agency a resu ing as a result of this in china and the whistle-blower dieing from the disease two weeks ago, is china doing enough to protect the front line people addressing this, the doctors addressing the crisis? >> it is hard for me to say yes or no. i suspect they're probably not doing enough because -- simply because they're overwhelmed. it is hard to do as much as you need to do when you don't have the necessary equipment. when we know from the infection, from sars what we know from meers, there is a lot of transmission in hospitals. and not only healthcare workers but other patients are at risk. we have to take really special precautions and cdc has and w.h.o. has recommended we use gloves, a gown, special mask

which has to be fitted, and we use eye protection. we need to use a face mask. an eye cover. so i suspect there is not enough supplies of this materials available for all the healthcare workers in china. >> what is the most important thing that you have learned about this disease, about this virus. we talked in the break about learning something new every time. what does this tell you? >> i think what this tells me is the importance of rapid detection so we need surveillance, rapid detection and rapid containment of an infection. if i would say something is that the delay that we saw in china because they initially did not believe it, they suppressed dr. li, that was a deadly mistake. this infection could have been contained much sooner if china had taken the -- instead of denying it, had taken the actions necessary. >> contained how, right? actions necessary, look at wuhan, china, right now. can you imagine something like

that happening in the united states, an entire city quarantined like that? >> think about the number of people essentially under quarantine in china now is twice the population of the united states. it is not just a city, it is the entire country. so i think, though, that because of the chinese new year and the travel that happened, they should have -- they could have stopped that travel before it happened. by the time they stopped travel, it was too late, the genie was out of the bottle. >> for the average american watching at home this morning and wondering how concerned they should or should not be about contracting coronavirus, how should they think about it? >> i would say i would not be concerned about it. we need to keep up with the information, which you are doing a very good job of keeping information. but the reality is i think the risk for the average american today is not at all there. simply i'm more concerned about influenza, we have heard already about the 7,000 deaths from influenza this season. but i would tell people, you know, wash your hands, have

respiratory hygiene, cover your mouth when you cough, when you sneeze, and just if you're sick, stay home. for the flu, get your flu shot. it is still -- the epidemic is still ongoing and you can still protect it from the influenza by getting the vaccine. >> doctor, thank you for those sage words. we appreciate it very much. >> thank you. the democratic candidate vowing to take on billionaires is now leading a national poll followed by a billionaire. a big question now, can democrats ultimately unite after all this division? your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms...

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pretty stunning shift in the democratic race for the white house this morning. cue mike bloomberg, now polling second behind bernie sanders. this is a new national npr/pbs poll. what does that do? it qualifies him for the debate tomorrow night in nevada. joining me now, jim mussina. >> how you doing? >> i'm good. what do you make of the numbers? you've got the sort of anti-billionaire candidate in the lead at 31% and then the billionaire clipping at his heels at 19%. what does this make you think? >> yeah, makes me think that beatles are wrong, money can buy love, right? we're seeing unprecedented spending and bloomberg rising in the national polls, for a couple

of reasons. one, 70% of democrats say the most important issue is who can beat donald trump in november. and bloomberg is starting to really rise on this. and the second thing is he's benefitted from vice president biden's slide in the polls. and you can literally track bloomberg going up as biden has come down. bernie is consolidating the left. right now it is a two-person race. but i'm a little skeptical whether it is going to stay that way. >> you're not just to be clear to folks you're not a bernie sanders fan. you recently said he's the worst candidate for the democrats to select as their 2020 nominee. just to put your thinking out there for people. but it was president obama who you helped get re-elected in 2012 that warned of a circular firing squad among democrats. are you concerned about the division? >> i am in a short-term. i think what you're going to see tomorrow in the debate stage is everyone take their first shot at bloomberg, right?

bloomberg is the unicorn in the race and no one has got to look at it except for a few hundred million dollars of ads. and i think tomorrow night is going to be a little bit of food fight with people throwing their lunch at bloomberg. and i think the question is, how is he going to handle it and can he continue to just stay focused on his dual message of i got things done as mayor of new york and i can beat donald trump. so i am in the short-term. long-term, democrats are going to unite behind whoever comes out of there, out of this primary, because, poppy, you know, donald trump is everything we don't believe in. and so i'm less worried in a general election about unity and i think you're seeing historic high democratic turnout all over the place in the 18 and 19 races. >> we just saw -- i want to note, my colleague brooke baldwin did a fascinating interview yesterday with jeff weaver on the sanders campaign who told brooke he -- they will not take bloomberg money if he is the nominee, if sanders is the nominee. i zoedon't know what that says

about unity. >> i think once you get to the general election, if you're anyone's campaign manager and as you noted, i was president obama's campaign manager, you're going to take help from whoever is going to give it to you, right? you're go to be up against donald trump and his unprecedented spending, and, you know, people are going to take help and they already are. bloomberg is funding huge campaigns to register voters in these early states, and was doing it before he got into the race and i didn't see bernie sanders or jeff weaver start whining about that. >> let's talk about former vice president joe biden because, of course, he was by president obama's side for eight years. and now he's dropping in this national poll, he's really seeing a decline of 20 points among african-americans in terms of national polling, why do you think his vision for america, the vision that he crafted and cultivated for so many years with president obama is not resonating right now? >> well, look, with african-american voters he's

still in the lead, the numbers have gone down. and, you know, i think the reason they have gone down is because michael bloomberg is spending tens of millions of dollars advertising to african-american voters in the early states featuring barack obama. these ads, i had one african-american activist from super tuesday state call me and say, jim, why did barack obama endorse michael bloomberg? i said, he didn't. bloomberg is just running ads all over the place and that's why you think this. and, again, money can buy a little bit of love and that's the numbers that bloomberg is starting to rise with african-americans. >> on the economy, right, it is the economy, stupid, and it is a good economy. it was a good economy under president obama, good economy now for president trump. how do democrats beat trump in this economy? >> well, a couple of things, swing voters who decide the elections, their economy is not great. their economy is kind of slid in the past five years.

and, remember, the economy is growing faster with barack obama than it is donald trump. but, poppy, democrats have to have an economic message that make s sense and they have to g at the economy and talk about it. and i think we'll get there in the general election and it is one of the appeals of michael bloomberg because if you look at the majority of his ads, there is straight economy and democrats are starting to respond to that. we know the democrats win presidential elections when we talk about the economy. >> jim messina, good to have you. come back soon. >> my pleasure. >> thanks. the boy scouts of america filing for bankruptcy as the organization faces mounting lawsuits over child sexual abuse allegations. will that bankruptcy actually stop all of those cases from going anywhere? we'll talk about that next.

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well, a new court filing from the boy securities is throwing hundreds of sexual assault and abuse lawsuits completely into limbo. overnight, the boy scouts of america filed for bankruptcy. this comes as the youth organization faces allegations from thousands of abuse victims, but because of the filing, all civil litigation against the boy scouts will be suspended. marty savage is covering this. this has been more than a year in the making. what does this mean for the organization and all of those that have filed the lawsuits? >> it has an impact on both fronts, for the organization and for the litigation. let's start with the litigation. the lawsuits. there are hundreds of lawsuits that have been brought against the boy scouts of america, alleging sexual abuse. if you add up the participants in those lawsuits, there are thousands of alleged victims

here. and attorneys have been speculating that the overall compensation would be in the billions of dollars. so the boy scouts decided that the way to go forward was to go into bankruptcy court. what that means is that those civil suits are suspended, it also means that all those victims who hoped to have their day in court to express the horrors they say they went through, they won't have it. it will be more of a mechanical function to file a claim with the bankruptcy court. one of their attorneys said this about the whole process, these young boys took an oath, they pledged to be owe bebedient. many of them are extremely angry that that's not what happened to them and the boy scouts of america did not step up the way they should have. now, the boy scouts of america says this is the only way they could keep paying the victims' compensation and keep the programs many rely on. there is going to be a deadline here this is crucial. if there are victims that haven't come forward, you need to come forward now, because you may not have the opportunity to

get compensation. and in an open letter, the head of the boy scouts said this about that very thing. i encourage you and all the victims to come forward and file a claim so you can receive compensation from this trust. it goes on, i want you to know we believe you. we believe in compensating you and we have programs in place to pay for counseling for you and for your family. there is still no way to sort of express. this was an organization at one time that seemed to represent all of the great american values of trustworthiness, loyalty, honesty, and now in light of all of the horrible things that have happened, that seems so far in the past. >> it really does. marty savage, thank you, on both of those fronts. jury deliberations are under way right now in the trial of harvey weinstein. the ex-movie mogul, facing five charges from two women in new york, including rape and sexual assault. jurors heard four weeks of testimony in the case this morning the judge ordered weinstein's defense not to communicate with news outlets or

the public until after the verdict comes in. if convicted, he could face life in prison. minutes from now, the judge in the roger stone case will talk to the justice department and to stone's defense team on a rare conference call. will trump's ally still be sentenced on thursday as planned. that's ahead. thanks so much for watching. i'm poppy harlow. jim and i will see you back here tomorrow morning. "at this hour with kate bolduan" is next. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424.

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hello, everyone. i'm kate bolduan. thank you for joining me. the dynamics of the 2020 presidential race seemed to have shifted overnight. vermont senator bernie sanders opened up a double digit lead in a new national poll. mike bloomberg is here to stay. now qualifying for his first debate and a debate that is tomorrow night. a new npr marist poll vaulting bloomberg into second place at 19% support among democrats and democratic leaning voters and look there also at bernie sanders in front at 31%. the long time front-runner joe biden within the margin of error for second place with bloomberg, which makes it then no surprise