Page 14 - Leverage Point News Today

Important issue to the future of our country. who are we going to allow in as a citizen, what will they be eligible for if we legalize these illegal immigrants, can they bring in family members? can they become a citizen? will they be eligible for all sorts of government programs? fun of those issues have been resolved yet. its important we get this right rather than rush into a decision. >> why does immigration have to be taxed to this? >> good question. >> let me ask you that, matt. >> well --...

Inconvenience is probably understating it. that is obviously a concern. that said, the defense department, in particular, has used, for example, the issue of contractors, et cetera, as sort of a leverage point or a discussion point. let me explain the messaging from mulvaney on the things that are open. theyre trying to say and make the point theyve been making the last two days, comparing it to the 2013 shutdown. under president obama, when the 2013 shut down happened, they say the obama admini...

Put forward wasnt just about daca. it was about ten million folks that would one way or another stay in this country indefinitely. if their concern was about daca, they should have brought a compromise bill to the president that just dealt with daca. they didnt. they were overreaching, and theyre getting -- theyre getting their hand slapped as a result of this. so, you make up the good point, every democrat thats voting no tonight is voting against a bill that they support. theres nothing in thi...

Get what i suggest to be this right solution is a clean bill on the budget. and then move on to daca. because the daca deadline is not until march. thats my hope. but having said that there is no definitive solution to the project. >> why wouldnt democrats feel they can use this as leverage? they saw what happened in december and before them. you have to imagine chuck schumer is looking at this saying this is the last chance. republicans and democrats have to come together to keep the government...

Comments last week influence their position this week. do they feel more emboldened? do they feel like they can take a harder line, that they dont have to look for room to compromise, especially now that the president has rejected a compromise bill. >> and you see that pressure. i want to put this on the table as we continue, to that point, "the washington post" editorial board, they understand this pressure. now that the democratic base is saying, dont negotiate with the racist. thats what they...

You for that. >> i think there is that risk, but i see it more as a leverage point. i mean, the wall and chain migration. i think hes trying to push as far as he can and see what he pulls back on. as you pointed out, it could be a fence or some other type of border security. he is having these conversations privately. hes saying some type of border security with protections for the d.r.e.a.m.ers. i think its potential. you still have the bannon wing of the party that youre going to have to fight...

Help with more serious crimes. and as you said, if i were kushner or bannon, i wouldnt be able to sleep tonight. >> the papers filed today are quite narrow and quite limited, but they give us a few clues. theres references to to senior transition officials and very senior transition officials that flynn had discussions with as he was having these conversations with ambassador kislyak. that is going to help the prosecutors formulate their next series of moves and this leverage point that your sou...

>> some might look at michael flynn lying to the fbi and they say, well, that could have been to conceal the fact he had violated the logan act. he was part of the transition. he was not yet part of an administration. he was meddling in foreign affairs by having these phone calls. but thats a really kind of antiquated law. its never been -- >> its never been charged. >> its never been used. so what do you think of that argument? >> well, look, i think you dont necessarily need to charge anybody ...

Involving himself in foreign policy before he was supposed to really be in a position to do that. but now it makes you wonder when you look at that, its not necessarily about the logan act, which it seems would be difficult to bring charges, its not something thats really been done and seems harder to believe this isnt about something much larger and involving more people, especially when you look at the words in the charging -- >> right. exactly. i think thats exactly where i go. when i look at...

Is where the tie-in with trump comes in, with the greater russian investigation. >> with regard to the turkey story, and someone who is familiar with this and while it is extraordinary to offer someone $15 million to force somebody to be kidnap and bring him back. and tur ski a nato ally and asking for this person to come back to the united states, and it is not out of the realm of possibility for us to return that person and give flynn the benefit of the doubt, and maybe he was working to extra...