the public really has a right to know. and we all can speculate and comment and predict, but what really counts is the findings and evidence and they bear on at that betrayal of public trust. there s the distinct possibility, anderson, that there will be no indictment here because william barr has concluded a sitting president cannot be indicted. so if there s no indictment and no findings in evidence, what we have, in effect, is a cover-up which the american people should not accept. the fact that barr has not been confirmed as attorney general and is consulting with top justice officials, is that standard operating procedure for a nominee? never standard operating procedure for a nominee to talk about a pending investigation. so i m a bit surprised that he is talking about the outlines and plans as the cnn report
president if he didn t do something else after this deal? i don t know about suicide, but i believe he will continue to do something. the word republicans are using is a down payment. it is their policy to build to have stronger border security and build a barrier. there are other things they can do to put money towards this. there will be an election in 2020. it will be on the ballot. i think the base is with the president. they ve seen he s willing to go to an extreme length to fight for something he believes in. we re not talking about health care. we re not talking about student loans, climate change, things nancy pelosi and the democrats in congress want to be talking about. we re having a national debate on border security which is where he wants it to be. congressman dent, do you think the president will actually sign the bill and then, to mike s point, sort of use it as a jumping off point? yes, he will sign it but not until he complains about it first. he will complain
in the usual circumstance it is put up or shut up. indict or say nothing at all. here you have a situation where the president can t be indicted under justice department policy. so that s not a risk. also, you have the watergate precedent where jaworski, the special prosecutor, turned over a famous bulging briefcase of evidence to congress of relevant evidence for possible impeachment. the public does have an interest here independent of the criminal justice system. and it really is inconceivable to me that the public and certainly the congress wouldn t be allowed to see what mueller had spent all this time. should it be made public? i think barr said as much as possible should be made public and commented on memos and where people are indicted and that evidence doesn t make its way when a prosecutor declines to prosecute someone.
for the american people because we have finally put to bed the notion that shutdowns are legitimate negotiating tactic when there s a dispute between two co-equal branches of government. i think what we need to do is move beyond this situation. hopefully the bill will get to the president s desk. he ll sign it into law by friday and then work with us as house democrats on our for the people agenda where we re focused on lowering health care costs, protecting people with pre-existing conditions, driving down the high cost of prescription drugs and enacting a real infrastructure plan. that s what the president talked about in part when he came before us at the state of the union address. hopefully once we end this sordid episode, we can work on issues of real importance to the american people. all right, congressman jeffries, appreciate your time. thank you. joining me former rnc chief of staff steele and charlie dent. mike, would it be suicide, political suicide, for the
deal maker in the case. that s not us saying it. here is what chris stewart told cnn s jim sciutto today. he said, and i m quoting, the deal we ended up with now is worse than before the shutdown. point in fact, the president s record in the private sector is littered with ill-fated deals. when we asked biographer dantonio how the latest episode compares, he said, and i m quoting, the president may have just found a new way to lose, which may explain why he was scrambling to put the best possible face on it first by pointing to another bigger, better number than the one we ve all been focused on. and we have a lot of options and a lot of things are happening, very positive things. you know, the numbers are almost $23 billion, which you don t report too often. it s about an 8% increase over last year. so if you look at the total funding, it s over almost up to $23 billion, 8% higher. that s not just for a wall t.