Transcripts For KYW Face The Nation 20170423

Florida senator marco rubio will join us, along with the person new polls say is the most popular politician in america. Hes trying to help the Democratic Party find itself. Republican john kasich has a new book out, two paths america divided or united. Hell tell us about it. And well hear from Homeland Security secretary john kelly. As always, well have plenty of political analysis. Its all ahead on face the nation. Good morning and welcome to face the nation. Im john dickerson. Well get to this weeks news in a moment, but first we want to tell you about next weeks broadcast. Saturday marks the official 100th day of the trump administration. And well be spending that day with with the president. Well interview him at the white house and travel with him to a rally in pennsylvania. The first part of our interview will air on face the nation next sunday and the rest on cbs this morning on monday may 1st. That broadcast will originate live from the white house along with our interview charlie rose, gayle king, and Norah Odonnell will be talking with Top Administration officials about the first 100 days and looking ahead to the next 100. But first, congress is going to need to agree on how to fund the government for the rest of the year. Or it will run out of money on day 99. We begin with republican senator marco rubio, who joins us from miami. Good morning, senator. I want to start with the Government Shutdown. The fight from the white house perspective is over funding for the border wall. Is that an issue worth fighting over right now if a Government Shutdown is a possibility . First, understand, were trying to finish out the current budget year, so i think thats a fight worth having and a conversation and debate worth having for 2018. If we can do some of that now, that would be great. But we cannot shut down the government right now. We have a potential Crisis Brewing with north korea. Weve seen whats going on, the ongoing crisis in syria. We dont know what the outcome of the French Election could be, but that could potentially throw the European Union and the Nato Alliance and some level of consternation. The last thing we can afford is to send a message to the world that the United States government, by the way, is only partially functioning. That would just have catastrophic impact, in my view, or certainly very destabilizing impact on global affairs. We should keep that in mind going into this week. Dickerson let me pick up on north korea. Ill ask you a question by a source in the middle of the country and it said, are we going to war with north korea . I hope not. We have to ask ourselves a very fundamental question. It is acceptable . Can we live in a world where kim jung un possesses military weapons but the ability to deliver them to the con nebl United States. If the answer is yes, there are all sorts of things we would not do. If the answer is no, then the options, and the answer so no for me, then the options were you are limited and none of them are good. None of those options are good, but it is my view at the end of the day we must do almost whatever it takes, just about anything, to prevent kim jongun from acquiring a Nuclear Capability he can deliver against the mainland of the United States of america. Dickerson so what is the end game there, senator . Is that removing all missiles . What would be the best possible outcome . Well, i think the best possible outcome would be that he walks away from his longrange missile program. We know he has Nuclear Weapons. The issue is can he hit it on a rocket and hit the state of california, arizona, the middle of the country and potentially washington, d. C. Thats an unacceptable risk that. Cannot happen. So the end game, and the ideal one in terms of the showdown, would be that he walks away from the longrange missile program. If he continues to test them, if he continues to make progress in that direction, then weve got a big problem. Dickerson senator, is the ratcheting up of conversation about north korea thats taken place ovr the last several weeks, is that because of the rhetoric and obviously the missile test in north korea, or as you understand it, has the north korean. Is north korea closer to that Intercontinental Ballistic Missile . Theres no doubt theyre closer and continue to get closer. Youve seen some spectacular failures, but thats always part of moving forward. Look, possessing the longrange missile is not technologically prohibited for most countries in the world who are willing to dedicate the resources. You have to understand, the people of north korea are starving to death. There are people starveing to death in north korea that. Government is putting every dollar they have leftover into the development of these longrange missiles. So ultimately if they want a longrange missile and continue unabated and we do nothing about it, they will acquire that capability. They potentially have some of that capability now. Ultimately this is not something thats prohibitive. Its one of my big concerns about robb, as well. They will follow the same track, iran will. Dickerson let me ask you about President Trump. You had considerable reservations about his ability to handle this kind of an issue when you were a candidate. Do you have faith now on this sensitive and tricky issue that the president can handle it . Well, let me say, first of all, i would never ultimately in a situation as critical as this deliberately undermine any president. I do believe this president has take then issue with north korea with the seriousness it deserves. I quite frankly congratulate him and commend him for putting people around him that are capable of handling this issue, giving him good advice. From everything ive heard, and i know some people that were involved in those deliberation, when the president looked at at the situation in syria, they were very impressed with this questions he asked and they were impressed with his thought process and decisionmaking process. That gives me greater confidence that we have a white house and president who is handling these National Security situations in the appropriate way. Dickerson the president got involved personally in the release of an aid worker who was being held in egypt. Some people think that in part that release was a result of the fact that he was more accommodating toward the president of egypt, who has been accused of human rights abuses and other things. What is your sense of that tension that on the one hand its productive, but on the other hand, some people think that being too close to the egyptian president is not a good thing . Well, egypt is an important country in that region, and we need them to be successful on multiple fronts. My concern with egypt has been that case where the aid worker was released. She was an aid worker and she should have been released a long time ago. It sounds and it looks like the president raised the issue privately and it ended in a positive result and he should be congratulated for that. I have ongoing concern, and my big concern in egypt is the way they govern that country now under president el sissi is going to lead to a destabilizing change of government because you cannot treat people this way and sustain it over the long haul. That said, we do need to work with the egyptian government, hopefully urge them in the right direction especially long term, but also work with them to secure the sinai, to be a reliable partner against isis, and also to continue to be a reliable partner against hamas and those that threaten israel from gaza. So all of these things are important, and theyre not mutually exclusive. I think this is a moment where we need to stop and say whether he did it publicly or privately, the president was successful at getting the release of an american improperly held abroad because he raised the issue and he made it a priority. Dickerson he made it a priority, but do you see any tension in the connection there between north korea has, for example, just take an u. S. Citizen, a third being held in knock new york, do you think there is any signal sent to other countries when an aid worker can be released but these human rights abuses dont get talked about so much. Well, i talk about them all the time. Its one of my priorities, and others i wish would talk about them more. But ultimately the release of the american aid worker should not prohibit us from continue to talk about the other human rights abuses that are occurring in egypt. There is a difference between egypt and north korea. Number one, egypt is not developing Nuclear Weapons designed to strike the United States. Number two, egypt is a partner in the fight against isis and radical jihadists. There is a defense. Its an ally of the United States. That does not however mean we cannot and should not publicly and privately, as i did with president al sissi two weeks ago. We raise them because its the right thing do do because its the right thing to do. But its also the right thing for him and egypt. If you continue to abuse your population, there will be an uprising, government instability, and thats the environment that breeds jihadists and radicals. Dickerson senator marco rubio, thanks so much. Thank you. Dickerson we want to welcome Homeland Security john kelly, who joins us from oceanside, california, following a tour of the u. S. Mexican border. Mr. Secretary, i want to start with the government, which is going to run out of money next week. One of the items of debate is the president wants money for the border wall. Is a border wall so important right now that it is worth ritz,ing a Government Shutdown . I certainly think a border wall is essential, as do almost everyone that lives along the border. So, yes, i think its certainly worth hard negotiation over. If we have tremendous threats, whether its drugs, people, potential terrorists coming up from the south and some type of a barrier, an effective barrier backed up by the brave and very effective men and women of dhs, i believe its essential. Dickerson of all the possible solutions to deal with, the illegal immigration problem, is the border wall the numberone thing you would pick if you could pick any solution . Well, there is no Silver Bullet solution to any of. This i really do wish that the congress would really join together in a bipartisan way and figure out these incredibly complex immigration laws and make some decisions on how to deal with those that are here illegally, illegally and behaving themselves, but a border wall, security wall, technology, patrolling, all of that is very effective, but just as effective i think and just as important is us helping reduce the amount of crime in mexico and Central America, because of the drug demand in our country. That is really the numberone fuel of the problem. Is there something based on your tour there that members of congress should see or should know to move a little faster on the legislation youd like the see them putting forward . I dont think theres an awful lot that gets solved very well in washington, d. C. , but if you come out here, as i do, as i say to kick the tires and maybe take a look behind the dumpsters and talk to the people that are actually doing the work on the border, they will tell you, that is to say customs and Border Protection people, ice people, local law enforcement, they will tell you a wall of some type is essential to the work that they do. That combined with policies inside the United States that no longer make it absolute that if you get here illegally youll be able to stay. My appeal to folks in mexico, Central America, other place, dont waste your money and come here because were going to pick you up and send you back home. On top of that, this is network that they travel on is terribly, terribly dangerous and abusive. To me this is a human rights issue. Keep people in their homes and communities in Central America and other parts of the world. Dickerson let me ask you about those who are here. They broke the law by being in the United States illegally, but they are not in the category, as the president calls them, of being bad dudes. The Washington Post says that number of people who are just here illegally but have broken no other law has increased, has doubled since the president has been in office. So it sounds like they dont fit in the category of bad dudes, but theyre being deported anyway. The way were doing our business is that ice officials will establish or will go after targeted individuals, develop target packages and then go after them. If people who are here illegally fall into our hands incidental to those, as an example, the other day i was talking to some ice agents in el paso, they said typically when they go into these homes or places looking for the person they targeted, there will often times be five, six, seven, other people, and by the way they do their jobs, they ask those people who they are, and if they cant produce some form of proof that theyre here legally or that theyre use citizens, then they could be taken into custody. So as police officers, they simply cant turn a blind eye to the lawbreakers. In every case, were targeting people who are here, a, illegally, and, b, have broken other laws. Drew so it sounds like youre not targeting them, but because they broke a law by being here, they would be suitable for deportation. Its more than that sounds like, john. We are not doing that. But people fall into our hands incidentally that we have no choice in most cases but to go ahead and put in the system. But i think you know that system is years long. Dickerson right. Give me your Homeland Security assessment of the north korean threat . Well, i mean, as long as theyre on the other side of the World Without a missile and a Nuclear Weapon to deliver against the United States, theyre not much threat right now, except in the world of cyber. Theyre pretty aggressive when they want to be in cyber. The minute they get, john, you know, the instant they get a missile that can reach the United States, and they have a weaponnized atomic device, Nuclear Device on it, were at grave risk as a nation. Dickerson in recent paris attack, a policeman was killed. Is there anything in the paris attack that sends any lessons about u. S. Policy or policy that should be put in place . There are so many aspects of this terrorist thing. Obviously they have homegrown terrorists. I dont know how to stop that or detect that. You got other terrorist threats that come across the border. I believe in the case of the murderer in the paris shooting, i believe he was homegrown, but again, there are so many threats that come in from across borders. Its essential to control ones border. The other thing, john, that keeps me literally awake at night is the threat against aviation. We know that would be the souper bowl for the terrorists to knock down an air plane in flight, particularly if it was full of americans. We have taken measures overseas to reduce that threat, but its something i watch every day. There are a number of plots that were watching very, very closely, very sophisticated, very threatening, and the numberone thing in my mind is to protect the American People. So well do that. Dickerson i just want the follow up mr. Secretary. You said on the homegrown threat, a lot of people think that is the biggest threat, part of the San Bernardino shooting, part of the boston bombing. If thats the biggest threat and you dont know how to stop it, that seems lake a big problem. It is a big problem. It is, you know, depending on where you sit is where you stand on this. Its a big threat. Is it the numberone threat . I think its the most common threat. Unfortunately there are other similartype terrorist threats that could come from outside the border. You know, the c. I. A. , n. S. A. , all the great women of d. O. D. Are doing a great job keeping them away from the homeland, but i focus on this aviation threat as something that is very real and if theyre successful, theyre going to kill hundreds and hundreds of people in one fell swoop. So i think the appeal i would make on the homegrown threat is if you see something, say something, whether youre a parent, a sibling, an imam. This extends to White Supremacists and that kind of terrorism, as well. If you see a young man or a young woman going down that path where theyre always on these kind of web sites or saying things at church or in a mosque that are clearly disturbing, then tell someone about it so we can help that kid, young man or woman, before they break the law. Dickerson all right. Secretary john kelly, thanks so much for being with us. Thanks, john. Dickerson when we come back, vermont senator Bernie Sanders will be here to tell us what hes doing to help get the Democratic Partyk with party become on track. Im dr. Kelsey mcneely and some day you might be calling me an energy farmer. Energy lives here. Dickerson were back with senator Bernie Sanders, who is back home in vermont after a weeklong tour of red states with the head of the Democratic Party. I want to talk to you about that unity tour youre on. You were with dnc chairman tom perez. He was booed in maine. There is a dustup over your endorsement of a candidate in omaha. What are the terms of the discussion in the Democratic Party about its direction . Well, i think what is clear to anyone who looks at where the Democratic Party today is, that the model of the Democratic Party is failing. We have a republican president who ran as a candidate as the most unpopular candidate in modern history of this country. Republicans control the house, the senate, twothirds of governors chairs and in the last eight years they have picked up 900 legislative seats. Clearly the Democratic Party has to change. And in my view what it has to become is a grassroots party, party which makes decisions from the bottom on up, a party which is more dependent on small donations than large donations, a party, john, that speaks to the pain of the working class in this country. Middle class is shrinking. 43 Million People living in poverty. Almost all new income and wealth is going to the top 1 . People cant afford to send their kids to college. They cant afford childcare. They cant afford health care. The Democratic Party has to take the lead, rallying young people, working people, stand up to the billionaire class, and when we do that, youre going to see voter turnout swell. Youre going to see people coming in and running for office. Youre going to see democrats regain control of the United States congress. Dickerson one of the things as democrats try to fix the party is this question of should there be a prioritization. You put those populist Economic Issues at the forefront. One of the reasons theres a bit of a debate about omaha candidate for mayor is that he is against abortion rights and so there is a debate about cultural issues versus economic. How does the party sort all that out. I dont think theres much of a debate about that. I have 100 lifetime prochoice voting record, overwhelming majority of democrats are prochoice. Im going to do everything that i can to see that the republicans do not get away with their horrific efforts to defund planned parenthood which provides health care to 2. 5 million women. But if were going to become a 50state party, if youre going to go to omaha, nebraska, which has a republican governor, two republican senators, all Republican Congress people, republican legislature, you know what, and if in omaha 5,000 or 6,000 people come out to a rally led by their new democratic chairperson, who is doing a great job, and if you have a rally in which you have the Labor Movement and the environmentalists and native americans and the African American community and the Latino Community coming together saying, we want this guy to become our next mayor, should i reject going there to omaha . I dont think so. It was a great rally, and i hope very much he wins. By the way, his opponent, the incumbent mayor, is also, of course, antichoice, and she is inviting scott walker, one of the most reactionary antichoice governors, antilabor governor, antieducation governors, to campaign for her. The choice is clear. I hope very much the democratic candidate there wins. Dickerson senator, well keep this conversation going, but well be interrupted quickly by a commercial, so well be back in a moment with more from senator sanders. Our teams of specialists at Cancer Treatment centers of america. The evolution of cancer care is here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com experts what we do every night is like something out of a strange dream. Except that the next morning. It all makes sense. Fedex powers global ecommerce. With networks built over 40 years. That are massive. Farreaching. And, yes. Maybe a bit magical. Visit fedex. Com slash dream get your ancestrydna kit. Spit. Mail it in. Learn about you and the people and places that led to you. Go explore your roots. Take a walk through the past. Meet new relatives. And see how a place and its people are all a part of you. Ancestrydna. Save 20 through wednesday at ancestrydna. Com dickerson were back with senator Bernie Sanders. You have an email list of all the grassroots voters you contacted to who voted to you almost hand that list over to the Democratic Party to help with its Grassroots Outreach . Right now, john, our focus is building up a strong Progressive Movement in this country. And i think the people who donated want us to focus on electing the most progressive people, people that we possibly. Can and bringing our people together to oppose this disastrous trump agenda, which calls for tax breaks for billionaires while at the same time he wants to throw 24 millions off of health insurance, defund planned parenthood, and raise premiums for older seniors. Our job right now is to build a Progressive Movement, and were making some pretty good success. All over this country with the progressive running for office and beginning to win. Dickerson some democrats are going to hear that and think, well, hes not totally committed to the whole Democratic Party idea here. Well, theres very few people who have been running around the country quite as much as i have been, trying to bring people into the party. And heres i think what the major issue is as we go into the 2018 election dealing with the most unpopular president after a threemonth period in american history. As you recall, in 2014, we had a voter turnout of 36 in the midterm elections. Two out of three americans didnt vote and republicans did very, very well. If that continues, there is no future forward for the Democratic Party. So what we have got to do and what the democrats have got to do is go all over this country, start getting into those red states, which have been ignored for decades, start growing the voter turnout, having an agenda which brings people together to say that in the richest country in the history of the world, yeah, you know what, weve got health care for old people. We can raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour. No, donald trump is not right, Climate Change is not a hoax, it is a major planetary crisis. We have the transform our energy. If we focus on those issues, voter turnout goes up, then the democrats win. Dickerson senator sanders, weve run out of time. Thanks as always for being with us. Thank you very much. Dickerson well be back in a moment. Finally. Hey ron theyre finally taking down that schwab billboard. Oh, not so fast, carl. Oh no. Schwab, again . Index investing for that low . Thats three times less than fidelity. And four times less than vanguard. Whats next, no minimums . No minimums. Schwab has lowered the cost of investing again. Introducing the lowest cost index funds in the industry with no minimums. I bet theyre calling about the schwab news. Schwab. A modern approach to wealth management. On your big day the only tears you. Not allergies. From joy. Flonase allergy relief helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes. Its an allergy nasal spray that works beyond the nose. Flonase. Dickerson well be right back with a lot more face the nation. Stay with us. Hes the billionaire exmayor of new york city who considered running for president. If i thought we could win, i would have done it. So whats Mike Bloomberg doing now . 60 mi dickerson welcome back the face the nation. Were joined by Ohio Governor john kasich. Hes the author of the book two paths america divided or united. Welcome, governor. What is the message with this book . Is it a memoir . Is it a cry of the heart . It is a manifesto . Is it a Campaign Book . I guess in some sense its a cry of the heart, john. I have been fortunate enough to have so many different experiences in my life, both in politics and in business and the media across the board. What this book is is about how did we get to where we are, which is today divided, and how do we get out of it . And what is our responsibility . All of us as individuals. It really gets down to living a life bigger than ourselves. I think that in some sense we kind of lost it. And whats most important is the people. Is for people the realize they matter. They matter as much as a c. E. O. , even if theyre turning off the lights at night. And we need to come together as a nation. We need to focus on the things that bring us together, not the things that divide us, and we need to listen to one another. Look, i have two 17yearold daughters. Some people are going to say, why did you write this book . Is this politics . Are you running in the primary . It has nothing to do with that. I wrote this book because i have observed what has been happening in our country. Im concerned about it, but i believe that with with an awakening the country can be refreshed and brought together again. I have no doubt. And you just had Bernie Sanders on. I have more democrats, more independents, more republicans that just walk up to me on the street and say, you know, you were the adult, you were the positive one, the message of this book, im begging people to look at this book and to understand their responsibility and their ability to bring this country together and stop waiting for these politicians to get it right. Theyre not going to get it right until they get a message from us. Dickerson so what is this message . Lets leave aside donald trump, youre a strong critic, you still russia but lets leave that aside for just a moment. What is that other message . What do people have to do . What can they do . John, i think a lot of it is to focus on common humanity. The editor of his book said he and his uncle were fighting at every holiday. I said, well why dont we focus on the things that pull us together . Are we concerned about drug adirection . Of course. Its not republican or democrats. Are we worried about veterans that cant get a job . Of course. What about a Senior Citizen who lost their spouse in what about the issue of Human Trafficking . Can we keep our eyes open. You had secretary kelly talking about how were all in this together. If we can focus on common humanity and sit down and fix problems where we live and believe in ourselves, it will open our ears to people who might not think like us. There are families that are in war with one another over politics. Its ridiculous. There are more things that bring us together. So i think common action, at a food bank, fighting the drug addiction, helping our kids to read at earlier ages, these are things that get us to communicate, so then these other big global issues wont matter as much. I was in atlanta, bernice king invitedded me for barkevious mingo. Somebody said, what about trump . I said, what about your neighbor . What about your kids . Martin luther king did not change america by going to the big shots. They wouldnt even meet with him. He brought republicans and democrats and liberals, conservatives who had moral outrage of what was happening in this country, he changed the country, and then the politicians got it. So we need to be engaged and live a life bigger than ourselves. Life is not about selfabsorption and just about me. Not looking for sainthood. Live life bigger. Dickerson Martin Luther king marched for racial equality and jobs. What is everybody on the streets of columbus marching for . I can tell you in columbus is we should be marching against the discourage of drugs. It brings people together even in the Political Parties, the fight against drugs. The ability to keep our eyes open and to do things against the issue of Human Trafficking. The issue of racism. These are the things that people. In my hometown, if we all marched against drugs, wed begin to win that battle. People sometimes look at the problems and they think theyre so big that im just one little person. We have a Holocaust Memorial on the statehouse grounds in columbus, and it says, if you say one life youve changed the world. We need the believe in ourselves again and not think, you know, life sort of ends at the grave. It doesnt, an accountability, values, and ill tell you another thing, job. Faith, whether youre a humanist or whether you have religious faith, there is a certain accountability. You dont bury your talents. You dont shut people out, you dont shut people down. If we keep doing this, my kids are going to live in a country that i wont recognize. But if we begin to talk to one another, listen to one another, respect one another, because we live life bigger than ourselves, we will make progress. Dickerson you say people should point together that will affect their lives. How can they possibly ignore that and particularly when you are very critical of President Trump and his campaign and the choice the Republican Party made. You talk about two paths. You say they have chosen the path of darkness. John, john, the politicians are all locked in. Theyre afraid of their own shadows. Theyre afraid to talk to people of the other party. You see, this is the disease thats affecting all of us. And look at united airlines. You tell me how they could have yanked that guy off that airplane . Who was in charge there . What was anybody thinking . Why are politicians not working across the aisle . The health care problem, the issue of obamacare, of course it needs to be improved, but it takes both parties. Im critical of both parties because i see them being locked in their own silos. You know what, john, a lot of the constituents are locked into their own silos. They only absorb the news they agree with. And if they see something they dont like, they tune it out. We need to listen to other peoples points of view, and the country can be healed. I have no doubt about it, but it isnt going to be healed if were waiting for somebody else to do something special. Kim . Dickerson let me ask you a question. You came out of the gate with a big list of things to do as cover. You had a lot to get done. You might have overshot in trying to do too much too fast. Do you have any advice for the current president . Well, i was a congressman in a governors body. I talk about it in here. Being a governor held me back in the president ial campaign because i wasnt going to make wild promises and i was going to be responsible. I was with the president. He invited me to the white house. One day she said, youre governor of ohio, youre the father of ohio, thats powerful words. I didnt tell him that to get in his face, flu is a takeaway for the president. . Oo what kind of father has he been . Its incomplete. Hes done some things well. His story about yanking people out of their homes who have not committed a crime once theyve come into this country, dividing families, i dont agree. I think what he did in syria is corrected. He seems so have toned down. Its 100 days, john. Hes never held public office. Hes learning. And there is a big learning curve. Now, i experienced it, but you know, in ohio today, were more united. You know why . Because im not playing that stupid political game. And i think Political Parties are on their way out essentially. Sanders is talking about yes constructing the Democratic Party. People care less about party. They want action and things done, but its not just politicians, john, its where you work and where you live and what you do. Dickerson governor, thanks so much for being with us. Well be right back with our political panel. Hours under fi. You know, our vehicle got progressively less drivable. Everybody was very focused, looking out the window. Being outside of a vehicle was suicide. I heard somebody scream in arabic, sayarat mufakhkhakha, which means boobytrapped car. I felt the explosion directly in front of me. I thought a lot about the person in that car. I wish i could have talked to him to understand who he was. Trying to imagine that without anger or disgust is part of our job as journalists, too. im bryan denton, photojournalist for the New York Times. Dickerson we turn now to our political panel. We want the welcome carol lee to the broadcast. Shes the White House Correspondent for the wall street journal. Jeffrey goldberg is the editorinchief at the atlantic. Reihan salam is the executive editor at the National Review and a policy fellow. And Mark Leibovich is with New York Times magazine. The government needs funding or it will be shutdown. The omb director at the white house says the reach a deal, they will give democrats 1 for obamacare funding if they get 1 for the president s border wall, which democrats dont want to fund. There that solve it . It got a pretty quick rejection from Senate Minority leader chuck schumer. He said its a nonstarter. Theyre not going to negotiate that. But its emblematic of two things. One, the president really wants a victory before the 100day mark. Particularly on some of his most significant campaign promises, like the border wall. The second thing is they need democrats on board if theyre going to avoid a shutdown, which the white house would like to do. So thats part of the reason why weve seen them leave open the possibility of not digging in on the border wall funding. Thats also why weve seen them try to make a lastminute reach at taxes or health care, two things that on a good day for congress would be really complicated and difficult, never mind that theyre trying to avoid a shutdown. So at the end of the week, what it sounds like we may wiped wind up is at a place thats very conventional where we get a oneweek continuing resolution so they can continue negotiations and perhaps look at health care in the following week. Dickerson reihan, congressman tom cole, a republican, said this about the politics of a possible shutdown. He said even our most recalcitrant members understand if you shut down the government while youre running it, you cant blame anybody but yourself. Does he have the politics of that right, do you think . Its not entirely clear partly because President Trump is a different animal. Hes someone who could lay blame at the feet of congress if he so chose, and thats why theres so much unturnty here. The deeper issue is for republicans, theyve been trying to get to regular order, that is a kind of regular ordinary way they that were supposed to have legislation that goes through committee, you vote, you have conference committee, all this other stuff, instead the only way we ever pass anything is when we cram everything into omnibus mustpasses legislation where someone will die. Its like this kitten is going to die if we dont passes this right now. The up shot of that is you get legislation that is not scrutinized. You get all kinds of terrible decisions crammed into this stuff, and this is not a sane, reasonable way to govern. The question is how can you actually press reset . The expectation had been on the part of republicans with congress that you get a republican president , maybe we can take a breather and actually do this the normal way, but the republican president we got is donald trump, and we go back to the brinkmanship. The things that Mick Mulvaney is saying, it doesnt actually add up. These are not deals that democrats are willing to make. You send everyone right back the their brinkmanship position. Dickerson mark . I also think democrats arent as worried about a Government Shutdown as an Opposition Party normally would be. I think that the democrats believe, probably rightly, that the republicans control every branch of government, and traditionally president obama, you know, experienced some actually political success when republicans controlled the house and senate, shut down the government, same with bill clinton in the 90s. In this case, democrats feel like they have a great deal of leverage. Whats interesting is as you approach this 100day marker, when youre trying to break up a nohitter, a baseball analogy, you dont swing for the fences. You try to get a single. And legislatively. Dickerson you think the president is trying to break up a nohitter . Correct. Hes accomplished nothing. Justice gorsuch maybe, but theres nothing hes accomplished. This is not going to be a big victory you get by imposing a deadline by congress. Dickerson jeffrey, ill dismount from the baseball metaphor and ask you about the rest of the world. Marco rubio made the case that if congress cant get its act in gear on funding that it will send catastrophic message to the rest of the world. What did you make of that . Thats a big word. You know, its not the only signal were sending to the world in recent days that might leave the world a little bit doubtful about where we are and who we are and whether were fulfilling our responsibilities. It is true that allies and adversaries alike watch washington. They assume because we are the worlds sole remaining superpower that we have our act together. When we dont, that sends difficult signals, but again, theres a panoply of difficult signals that are coming out of washington. So i wouldnt call it catastrophic. I would say at a moment of heightened tension in the Korean Peninsula and obviously the issues surrounding iran and syria, a recent strike in syria, is not the moment to signal to the world that we cant even keep our government running. Dickerson carol, as mark pointed out, the president is trying to swing, you know, health care, taxes, give us on health care, there was a blip that there might be something. Was there something going on last week about reviving the replacement to the Affordable Care act, or was that kind of Wishful Thinking . There has been an effort going on. The Vice President mike pence has worked on. This hes obviously been traveling in the last week. But there is the conservative, the moderates and the Freedom Caucus and the Republican Party are trying to Work Together to come up with some sort of compromise. What theyve come up with is something that is a bit cos met nick terms of the differences that it has with the failed Health Care Bill a few weeks ago. And so its not clear that it will actually go anywhere. And even if it goes somewhere, right now the president , the white houses argument is they consider it a victory if they get something passed in the house. They still have to go through the senate. Its not necessarily. It doesnt guarantee that its going to go anywhere. Dickerson and as one senator said to me, the Freedom Caucus in the house will have bigger problems among republicans in the senate. Reihan, also parted of this beattheclock game to get things done in the first 100 day, the republican seems ready to announce his tax plan that. Seems faster than we expected it. Explain what you think will happen when you introduce a big tax cut plan in the midst of this environment . One possibility is if youre not going to get legislation that can get past a filibuster, youll have temporary tax cuts, something that will be a bit more crowd pleasing potentially and a bit narrower in scope because republicans have been working on getting a big border adjustment package that would give them the revenue they need in order to do a variety of other things the make the tax code more investment friendly. But of course the borderadjusted tax is dividing republicans some we might wind up seeing something thats a little more narrowly political and more stimtive. What treasury secretary said is we want to focus on a middleclass tax cut. Weve heard that again and again and again. What exactly is that going to be . A middleclass tax cut is not what progrowth, supplyside republicans are most enthusiastic about. They care about Corporate Tax cuts, and highend tax cuts. So its possible well see something from trump thats very, very different from what weve been talking about to date, mainly something that is focused on his constituency. That would be, in my view, politically smart, but it doesnt actually do much to get the Republican Leadership on side. Dickerson mark, focused on constituency, give me your sense of that. The president is in this interesting position. He is a republican, but hes also got his own constituency. Thats why a fight over the border wall on government spend South Carolina that putting him right back in the center of what brought him, which is to say his focus on border and maybe its threatened a shutdown, but hes keeping his eye on the prize. He has great confidence that his supporters are for a border wall. Hes probably right about that. The problem is his supporters right now have not scaled at all since hes been elected, at all. Its also unclear where the country is on a border wall. If you polled people who voted for donald trump, youll get very, very high numbers on a border wall. Theres in consensus even on the hill itself that this is something that is worth really having a sort of knock knockdowndragout fight. Tax, health care, border wall, these are not small things when you have an area of need, i. E. Keeping the government open, which is coming down in five days from now. Dickerson jeffrey, a quick question about international affairs. The president this morning tweeted, very interesting election currently taking place in france. What did you make of his occasional forays into the French Election . That sounds like he should be a panelist on a panel discussion, fascinating election. What hes doing, its a very sort of passive aggressive thing, because we saw him earlier this week say im not endorsing the farright candidate, but shes really great on this subject and that subject, borders especially. Its. Were in a novel moment obviously in americaneuropean relations and the history of the president ial interventions in overseas elections. Shes the farright candidate. Her party, the national front, has its roots in i vichy fascist ideology. So an american president saying im not endorsing but in essence endorsing is really something we havent experienced before, and if she wins, if she makes it through this round and gets to the second round or even possibly win, were looking at the end of the european experiment, the end of postworld war ii experiment, and donald trump has been sympathetic to that idea. Hes been very hostile to the e. U. Hes intermittently hostile to nato, as weve seen over the years, and so hes clearly trying to put his thumb on the scale while being security about it. Dickerson reihan, what do you make . There are a lot of Foreign Policy developments this week, north korea. The president made a phone call to erdogan of turkey about his victory. And then theres this discussion about the French Election. What do you make of the president and his Foreign Policy . Are these totally independent decisions . Cothey follow a pattern of any kind . I think there is a tendency to impose a narrative on whats going on some the fact that President Trump congratulated president erdogan. President obama congratulated president putin on his election victory. That didnt mean that president obama thought putin was a great guy. Similarly, we dont know exactly what donald trump thinks about erdogan and the political changes within turkey domestically. As for north korea. Youre assuming he has thoughts about it, actual thoughts. Or its something hes thinking about, puzzling through. I think weve seen his mind changes from time to time. Dickerson hes definitely know cussed on isis and turkeys pole in possibly helping. Thats very complicated because the turks, they want to be the tip of the spear. They want to be sure that its syrianarabs taking out isis, whereas the United States is working closely with syrian kurds and the turkish government believes these guys are terrorists. So thats nomly is complicated and north korea is, too. I think what youre seeing is his Foreign Policy is his transactional nature is playing out in that what he said in congratulating erdogan, which white house officials said he wanted to do, particularly just so he could try to put turkey in a place where he might be able to get something he wants from them on the Islamic State fight, and that it was worth taking criticism that the u. S. Is hypocritical in its preaching democracy, and you see he. This is a president that likes to be praised, and so you see him offering praise to erdogan. You saw him doing this with egypt, in which they felt that resulted in him getting this aid worker released. Hes done that with president xi jinping of china. So you see how hes operating. Hes praising people who we would not necessarily praise, and hes trying to get some sort of transactions from them. I also think that what were seeing, in a way, the current Foreign Policy environment suits his fairly situational approach to the world. He was praised for syria, for instance. What was the next president every sentence in the world said after that, whats the strategy . By the time were on to the strategy were back the north korea, were in turkey, were in egypt. So i think hes also well situated with pretty strong advisers at this point. I think mcmaster to some degree tillerson, certainly kelly, certainly mattis are people hes pretty comfortable with, and again, the situation and format suits him well. Let me speak on behalf of the strategyloving pundit class. You can have transactions for a while, but these problems pile up because transactions dont solve the problems. You need an actual strategy to figure out what were doing in syria. You need an actual strategy to figure out what youre doing in north korea. No sign of any strategy. Weve had a transactional strategy in north korea for the last 20 years. Here we find ourselves. Drew the transaction i must transact is that we are out of time. So well be back in a moment with thoughts about civility. Dickerson the chairman of the Democratic Committee tom perez has been swearing a lot lately. They call their budget a skinny budget. I call it a [bleeped] budget. Dickerson a gun is Michelle Obamas advice when they go low, i go high. Dickerson gone and words we should live by. This is more about crass language inch times of tension do you keep your standards or do you drop them . The Washington Post asked perez about his potty mouthed and he pointed out correctly that republicans have tolerated far worse from donald trump. So two wrongs make a right and the race is on to the bottom, or whatever is below the bottom. At this point you may be swearing in rebuttal. Party chairman are supposed to be extreme. It creates urgency and excites the crowd. Plus donald trump never paid the price. Essentially this is good politics. Is it really . If you oppose a president for his coarseness, why imitate it . Donald trumps primary opponents tried and failed. Also for a party with a message problem, there is something exhausting about the overuse of the manure spreader. It suggests the reliance on shock rather than a real argument. The move comes across as thoroughly calculated. A pointed word can be effective, as Bernie Sanders proved when he said. The American People are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails. Thank you. Me too, me too. Dickerson but it was the prior restraint, not just the words, that made people take notice. Back in a moment. The following ad for your viewing convenience. I finally switched to geico. Oh yeah . Ended up saving a ton of money on car insurance. I hear they have a really great mobile app. The interface is remarkably intuitive. Thats so important. Dickerson thats it for us today. Thank for watching until next week when we bring you our interview with donald trump on his first 100 days in office airing on face nation and the following morning on cbs this morning. Live from the white house, for face the nation, im john dickerson. Announcer the following is a paid presentation for lifelock, the numberone most recognized brand in identifytheft protection. Wherever you are in america, Identity Theft is there, too. From big cities to small towns, we are all at risk. I logged on to my bank account and found that i had no funds whatsoever. It made no sense, and it made me feel helpless. I could not believe that somebody would steal my tax refund. It made me angry. I started getting phone calls from credit collection companies. Youve opened an account here and here and here. They wanted payment. Payment for things that i did not do. 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