Theyll be relying on congress to pass a Spending Bill and aboat Government Shutdown by a midnight deadline next saturday. If congress fails, those workers paychecks will be delayed possibly for weeks. Federal agencies have begun the process of preparing for a shutdown and it looks more and more likely. House speaker Kevin Mccarthy conceded he has to win over a handful of gop handliners, but hes hopeful theyll eventually vote for a Stopgap Spending Measure did avoid shutdown. New jersey senator bob menendez is pushing back against calls to resign, even from fellow democrats. Federal prosecutors say menendez and his wife took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes including gold bars, cash, Home Mortgage payments, and a luxury vehicle. A Growing Crisis at the mexican border. Federal officials are sending more resources to help with the surge of migrants crossing into the u. S. Lets bring in a panel of political experts to talk about this. Joining us now, former fox news host Geraldo Rivera in the flesh, as well as former senator Senior Adviser for Bernie Sanders 2020 president ial campaign, chuck rocca, and republican strategist and former rnc Communications Director dog high. Geraldo, its great to have you on the show. Its 5 00 in washington. Well have to call this the four as there are only four of us, i know youre used to being on at 5 00. How bad is this going to get for Speaker Mccarthy if he cant cut a deal to avoid a shutdown . Wa do you think . I think hes between a rock and a hard place. He cant, you know, placate the hard, hard right, the Freedom Caucus members, and some of the others, no matter what he does. They dont want the government to go on, it seems to me. They want it shut down. I think that what he should do is appeal to the American People to appeal to those Congress Folk and tell them that the federal government does more than deliver mail and audit your taxes. It makes the World Go Round in a lot of ways. A lot of people are going to suffer grieve yusly. Hes got to make a deal with the democrats, otherwise this shutdown will be disastrous. Doug, is that where this is heading . Hes going to have to make some kind of deal with the democrats . Or do you think well see some of these Freedom Caucus members cave when it gets down to crunch time . Unfortunately, theres going to be a shutdown. It seems almost impossible to avoid that. Its interesting because the politics are somewhat similar and also different than what we saw in 2013 during the shutdown. The Freedom Cau Cushion in this case is divided. Weve seen some peel away and be more supportive of kevin. Weve seen basically keeping government open and functioning. Weve seen some who are still drawing that hard line. And the reality is, what people are hearing back in their congressional districts, whether theyre working with leadership or theyre standing against Republican Leadership here its only republicans who sort of matter in this context is their constituents are telling them, keep doing what youre doing. Dont work with democrats. Thats somehow bad. Or fight your own Republican Leadership. Thats exactly what theyre hearing. And chuck, Border Patrol is one of the issues that might get affected by this Government Shutdown. I mean, how do you maintain a border if the government is shut down . This is what President Biden had to say about the surge happening at the southern border right now. Unfortunately, the majority of republicans in congress under my predecessor spent four years gutting the Immigration System under my predecessor. They continue to undermine the border situation blocking bipartisan reform. Until congress acts, im going to keep usingry tool at my disposal to preserve and protect daca, Keep Fighting for dreamers, and build a safe the pets fired up. I think you were at that event. Thats the Congressional Hispanic Caucus institute, latino leaders across the nation. Theres real political implications with a shutdown. Weve all been through it. Democrat, republican, or independent, im not a guy who does public policy, i run campaigns. You know that. What you see in the states is real consequences if folks stop getting checks. If we shut down our National Parks and Fishing Guides cant get into the everglades, folks that make a living off this, like gas prices. You see it every single day when you stop getting those resources. Geraldo, youve been weighing in on this issue. What more can the president do at this point . Does he have a point that bipartisan Immigration Reform is the key . Well, it certainly is the key, jim. But he has to take some possibility and stop this phoney blaming everything on trump. Its just not so. When you weld open the doors to the border wall because you want to show the latin world that you are openminded or welcoming, what you do is you welcome everybody wants to live in america. Whether you live in colombia or venezuela or mexico or azerbaijan or france. You want to live in america. You have to have some control. Now, i am all for a liberal, comprehensive Immigration Reform. But you have to admit, when you see if it werent for the drones, we wouldnt know. With these drone cameras, we get an idea of the scope of the misery. When i was growing up, it was stopping an unbridled flow, a tidal wave from south america. The gap now, they have tour guides, they give out knapsacks, sneakers, a package deal. Well get you across central america, get you into mexico, you get on the train, then you cross the rio grande, press toe, youre there. Theres got to be some kind of order. Theres got to be mexico, central america, colombia have to Work Together to help reestablish order on the border. You have people dying in the desert and so forth. We, our country, has prospered enormously from latino and other immigrants, but right now it is anarchy and chaos and biden has to do something. Geraldo, isnt there a problem for republicans in congress if theyre shutting down the border and at the same time if sheer shutting down the government, excuse me, and at the same time the border resources are going to be affected by a Government Shutdown . Isnt that a problem . Absolutely. Its ridiculous. Its absurd. You shut down the government, whos going to police fentanyl . Were losing a planeload of people every day to fentanyl. Thats how many are dying. A couple hundred every single day overdosing. Come on. Lets be grownups here. Thats why i think this is the moment Speaker Mccarthy has to decide whether or not hes a great man or hes a politician. If hes a great man, hes going to say, okay, you hardliners, youre not with me, then im going to go to the democrats because im putting my country before my party. Lets see, is he a profile in courage or just another political hack . Lets talk about whats happening with democrat senator from new jersey, bob menendez, defending himself against these charges that he took bribes as part of his duties up on capitol hill. Hes been essentially saying that hes being persecuted because hes a latino in congress. Doug, what do you think at this point . What do you think bob menendez is up against right now . He is facing increasing calls to step down. John fetterman from pennsylvania earlier today calling on menendez a lot of new jersey democrats. So far, silence from cory booker who the last time bob menendez went through this this is not his first rodeo through this cory booker has supported him. Hes been quiet so far. If cory booker calls for menendez to step down, its hard to see how its tenable. George santos, i think in a similar light, the reality is as long as youre there, being there is part of your political leverage. Part of your leverage in a legal sense as well. When youre negotiating potential pleas and things like that with doj. You stay in office because you have that one piece of leverage. Yeah, chuck. The problem right now is that he has an election. The last time this happened, he was 3 1 2 years before his election. Now he has an election in less than a year. A bunch of congressmen in new jersey would love to be senator, bottom line. A lot of folks in the Latino Community are really sad. They have been with bob menendez, hes been a leader in our community, did Amazing Things for the community. Now folks are lining up, a lot of congress who would love to be senator. What do you think . Youve been involved in Campaign Politics for some time. It comes down to the senate. Right now, we have no wiggle room. Weve talked about this on this program. Hes not going to step down . I think i was out there looking. Every minute, theres Somebody Else whos coming out. Now its the California Senate candidate. I think the pressures going to get immense on him. Guys, sit tight. Weve got a lot ahead. Geraldos old boss, rube better murdoch, we cant get you go without talking about that. Jer recall hoes role in political discourse, he had a front seat to a lot of it. Well talk about that in a a fe minutes hive in the cnn news roomom. Nope. man are you sure . Here we go vo its time to push your limits. Room. Youre doing great man oh, is that a buffalo . woman babe, thats a cow. vo the allnew Subaru Crosstrek wilderness. Adventure on the edge. sfx ping please dont go please dont go. Please dont go please dont go dont goooooo dont go away please dont go subway refreshed everything. And now, theyre slicing their deli meats fresh. 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My watch does the same thing. Geraldo, the president , weve been playing a lot of polls lately that show biden and trump in a neckandneck battle for the presidency. State polls get overlooked. This latest cnn poll shows the president way out in front of trump in New Hampshire, which is typically a battleground state. Maybe its been trending a little bluer in recent elections. Its a reminder we have an Electoral College and the president may be doing a little bit better in some of these battleground states. What do you think . Well, New Hampshire polling, reporting all day, the first good news President Biden has gotten pollwise in quite a while. The last poll has it week that i saw was trump biden 50 50. To see him moving decisively ahead in New Hampshire, it gives hope to the thesis that he is the guy to beat trump. Maybe trump is the only guy he could beat. But he is the one guy that could beat trump. And if that is the if that working philosophy works, then youll have these two alltimers getting out there and slugging it out and maybe biden prevails in the second term. Its close. Too close for comfort for democrats for sure. Trump is surprising everybody with his resilience in terms of his popularity. But trump biden rematch, excuse me for yawning, but the stakes could not be higher. Youre not okay with old guys slugging it out, geraldo . Im an old guy that slugs it out. All the time. Thats my life. Thats my m. O. Right. You wouldnt be where you are today if you werent. Im 80. Hes only biden is only eight months older than i am. So i know how i feel. And i know that i wouldnt like to be going hither and thon. But i wish him the best, i do. I want him to succeed. I think that trump disqualified himself by being president by challenging the constitution of the United States. Mike pence was absolutely right that he put the his own political fortunes ahead of the country. He does not deserve to be president again. Chuck, i mean, what do you make of this New Hampshire poll . Did you exhale . Did you breathe a little easier when you saw that . Ive been telling democrats for weeks as they see National Polls and its one point here there. I told them to step away from the edge of the building and off the bridges, everythings going to be okay. We have to work our tails off, but state polls matter the most. Youve reported in iowa and other places that nevada, arizona, georgia, pennsylvania, michigan polls, now the New Hampshire polls are what you really should Pay Attention to. And as we get closer, the more you should Pay Attention to. Makes sense president is going to michigan. Thats another Battle Ground state that matters. Doug, New Hampshire poll, should this give Trump Supporters some pause here . Nothing gives Trump Supporters pause. I was going to say. If youre a republican running against donald trump, you have a debate next week. This is your opportunity to point out how you think donald trump cant win. And weve heard this from desantis, halley. Theyve got a fresh opportunity with hard numbers behind them to do so. A debate coming up on fox, im sure youre aware. I believe its on fox business. I have to ask you about murdoch stepping down. I know youve been asked a bunch about this. You called him a titan. Youve tweeted about this and said that hes a titan. He gave voice to conservatives who were barely being served in the news media. I know that was how roger ailes felt about a lot of this. You were saying a few moments ago that donald trump disqualified himself from being president because of what he did around january 6th and so on. But fox bears some responsibility for that, dont they . And Rupert Murdoch shares some responsibility for that. They were pedestrian telling these lies and that was one of the reasons you had problems over there. Your thoughts on all of this . Well, very briefly, my fortunes at fox began spiraling downward when i began voicing the opinion on november 13th, 10 days after the election, that the president , president trump, was going off on a tangent. By the end of november, he was totally committed to crazy. So, you know, i said so. I said then. And ive been saying for the last, what is it, almost three years now that, you know, when you do something as egregious as challenge the constitutional order, then you have no right to run for president again. That doesnt mean im not sympathetic to him. It doesnt mean i didnt support him before. In terms of Rupert Murdoch, he is a titan. You know, he made 17 billion and formed this worldwide media empire because he saw that half of America Felt Unserved or underserved by mainstream media. Thats a reality. Most commentators are prochoice. Proabortion. Most believe climate change. Most believe that there should be gun control. Immigration reform. Conservatives dont believe any of that stuff. You know, they need media, and i think that his serious was recognizing tens of millions of peo