I don't know whether CNN had a hand in the audience-stacking, but it was a stacked audience, and CNN was less than forthcoming about people who asked questions:
CNN didn’t disclose Democratic Party ties of questioners in Sanders town hallCNN on Wednesday admitted it failed to disclose the Democratic Party ties of audience members who asked questions during its recent Sen. Bernie Sanders town hall.
“Though we said at the beginning of the Town Hall that the audience was made up of Democrats and Independents, we should have more fully identified any political affiliations,” the cable news network said in a statement.
...
Among those who quizzed the socialist presidential hopeful was Baltimore County Democratic Party Chair Tara Ebersole, who was identified on the episode only as a “former biology professor,” and Charles County Democratic Central Committee Chair Abena McAllister, who was described as “an active Democrat,” according to Mediaite.
Yunjung Seo was introduced as a college student, but neither host Wolf Blitzer nor the on-screen chyron mentioned that she is an intern at Democratic fundraising outfit the Katz Watson Group, according to her LinkedIn page.
And Shadi Nasab was also presented as a college student, even though her LinkedIn page says she is an intern at DC lobbying firm Cassidy and Associates.
These were not generic Democrats from ordinary walks of life, they were activists with close D Party ties and local D Party leaders.
The Bern may or may not have known this, but the
Clinton News Network definitely left its audience to draw very inaccurate conclusions about who and what they saw/heard.