The lies of Frothy Mix are welcomed back to CNN. Sigh.
According to Rick Santorum,
1. The only choice America has is between the current policy of ripping children from their parents' arms, and open borders where people who disagree with the policy are forced to house all of the immigrants coming across the southern border.
2. The parents are to blame for crossing the border.
3. "WE have completely ignored our southern border."
Code for "Build the wall." The wall will never be built. It's impractical, too expensive, and Mexico is never "gonna pay for it." Also, it's a colossally stupid idea pitched to extremely stupid voters. Trump hasn't even asked for a Army Corp of Engineers report on the feasibility of a "wall" and there is no way in anyone's lifetime that the federal government would be able to acquire the land let alone the financing to complete such a project.
And Trump is holding children hostage to get funding so his base doesn't revolt. And they accuse Democrats of exploiting a wedge issue? Please.
But Santorum collected his CNN paycheck and Trump gets to call them fake news?
Transcript via CNN h/t Heather:
TAPPER: Attorney General Jeff Sessions using scripture to justify the new Trump administration policy of prosecuting all of those who attempt to enter the country illegally and thus prosecuting them all and thus separating hundreds if now thousands more children from their parents.
My panel here is with me. Senator Santorum, I believe that you are supporter of the administration's policy on this. Do you agree with the invocation of scripture to defend that?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (ph): Careful, Rick, (INAUDIBLE).
RICK SANTORUM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. I'm very careful about this. I mean, what -- you know, there are many religious leaders who object to this policy. And I certainly understand why.
TAPPER: Leaders of your church, the Catholic Church are very upset about it.
SANTORUM: Yes. It is gut-wrenching to see these images and to understand what is going on. At the same time you have to -- you know, governmental officials have to look back and look at the consequences of what the law is.
And the reality is as Jeff Sessions said repeatedly, the law is in place to make sure that we treat people fairly under the law and we have a deterrent effect. The reality is that everybody who is going to be disagreeing with me on this panel is sounding very compassionate. Oh, we need to take all these people in. We need to take all these people in.
I just -- I just say that there is a consequence to that. I mean, if you say we are going to take these people in, more people will come and more people will come and we will have a bigger and bigger problem at the border.
You will be putting more children at risk. Of a 2,000 mile trek from Mexico which is not an easy thing to do. I mean, there is -- there are real consequences of this.
And this is what I would say to all of you. You want America to be open, fine. I would argue give your addresses out and tell the people who come to this country "you can come to my house."
[09:35:02]
You can stay here --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: And you can come to my house and you can stay here as long as you want. I will pay for your education. I will pay for your --
(CROSSTALK)
JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Rick, come on --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: What you're saying is --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Nobody is saying -- you are putting words in people's mouths.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Nobody is saying we want an open country. What we are simply saying is we don't want two year olds torn from the arms of their mothers and crying and --
SANTORUM: And what is the consequence to that?
NAVARRO: The consequence of that is that we're going to have --
SANTORUM: More people coming.
NAVARRO: -- 2,000 children --
SANTORUM: More people coming.
NAVARRO: -- who are going to have incredible damage, emotional damage. The consequence of that is human suffering. The consequence of that is Americans are outraged -- I see American values being violated.
SANTORUM: Their parents put them in that situation. Their parents put them in that situation. Their parents put them in that situation.
TAPPER: Congressman --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: It is utmost hypocrisy.
SANTORUM: No difference --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: It is the utmost cynicism to quote scripture. The same scripture that was quoted to justify slavery.
SANTORUM: Their parents put them in that situation.
NAVARRO: Who justifys that and shame on any Christian that is doing that.
(CROSSTALK)
REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: This is supposed to be a country of values.
SANTORUM: And laws.
NAVARRO: There is a law.
MEEKS: The law that is in place now, the same law that was in place with the Obama administration, with the Bush administration et cetera --
SANTORUM: Law to separated children and parents (ph).
MEEKS: -- I listened to former Attorney General Gonzalez under the Bush administration who said there is discretion and that clearly this government, this president has utilized his discretion to separate families. That's the values that he is putting on the American people.
I think the American people and you senator should stand up and say no. When we have and we see something that is so horribly wrong we are going to stand and we are going to make sure that does not occur.
SANTORUM: The parents --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: Just one (INAUDIBLE).
TAPPER: Yes.
SANTORUM: These parents broke the law.
GRANHOLM: OK. They did not break the law if they are seeking asylum. That is not a breaking of the law.
SANTORUM: They can --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: -- asylum with in the country that they -- they can go to the embassy and seek asylum. They don't have to go 2,000 miles to cross the border.
TAPPER: Governor --
GRANHOLM: Rick --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Governor, let me ask you a question. Should Democrats be willing to give something in order to have this policy? That is what President Trump wants. He is using this as a negotiating tactic.
GRANHOLM: Yes. But what they put on the table right now doesn't address this problem at all. What Paul Ryan's so-called compromise does not address this issue at all.
Democrats are willing to compromise. We don't want total open borders. But what we do want is to be a nation that does have compassion.
Rick, you have seven children. If you were living in Honduras which is the country with the highest child homicide rate, the country with the highest female homicide rate, gangs, you would not leave all seven of your children there.
SANTORUM: With all due -- with all due respect --
GRANHOLM: You would want to save them. You could drive nails through my hands. You could whip me on my back but do not take my children away. That to me is totally not who we are.
SANTORUM: With all due respect the only person who is actually talking about a solution to this is Marco Rubio, who is out there talking about foreign policy that actually can address these issues. That's what we --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: We have not done any -- we have completely ignored --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: Yes, we have completely ignored our southern border --
MEEKS: If you look at what's taking place in the House and that's why we came two votes short of a motion to discharge to put a bill on the floor next week that we collectively can do to make a difference and to change it. So we have been (INAUDIBLE) people are working on it now and -- (CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: We're talking about immigration.
MEEKS: And instead of --
SANTORUM: I'm talking about -- I'm talking about foreign policy with respect to our involvement in Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba --
NAVARRO: That's not -- that should not be one thing or the other.
SANTORUM: No --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: No, listen. I am Nicaragua. OK? I was born in Nicaragua.
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: If you want to solve the problem let's solve the problem instead of trying to deal with the symptom of the problem.
NAVARRO: Two hundred people have been killed -- 200 people have been killed like dogs in Nicaragua and people are desperate to get out there. That has happened in the last six weeks.
And you are right. There is a foreign policy component to this but there is also an immigration policy. It is not either/or. That's a completely false equivalency.
And I would say to my senator Marco Rubio, he happens to be my senator, you should be on Dianne Feinstein's bill where there are 43 Democrats.
TAPPER: (INAUDIBLE) stops the -- that stops the separation policy.
NAVARRO: Of separating children.
Marco, like me these are kids that look like us, that sound like us. Their parents are doing what our parents did, flee oppressive regimes, flee economic distress to have their children to be able to give them a better life. And it is horrible to me that he is instead tweeting about Kanye West's new record and chicken sandwiches and not on that bill.
TAPPER: I want to play sound from Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Democrat from Illinois talking about Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: Sessions, he just love for black people to be in the back of the bus again. Yes. He would love for women to be in the kitchen.
He would love for gay people to be in the closet again and for me not to have a microphone to be able to speak to anybody. (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What is your reaction to that, Congressman?
MEEKS: My reaction is that we are looking at what Jeff Sessions' policies have been.
TAPPER: For black people to be in the back of the bus?
MEEKS: Well, he's looking at about cutting voting rights, when you look about reducing civil rights and doing as the attorney general. When you look at those policies, you know, I am concerned about some of the issues that reminds me of what happened post reconstruction when you start rolling back laws.
[09:40:10]
And so therefore we as a people have to make sure that we don't follow the past example because we want to become a more perfect union and not make the same mistakes of the past. And that's on the line.
TAPPER: What do you think about that statement from Gutierrez, Senator?
SANTORUM: It's disgusting. This is -- look, I understand the crudening of the discourse in this country. When we see it. We see it out in the White House.
I get it. But to play these types of divisive, racial bigotry type --
(CROSSTALK)
MEEKS: I'm not going to allow you to get away with that, sir. Because the one that had been playing the divisive and racist issues has been the president of the United States of America from the very beginning.
SANTORUM: I mentioned that first. I mentioned it first.
MEEKS: He has divided this nation and he continues to divide the nation with his words.
SANTORUM: Yes. And if you look at the Democratic party --
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: The Democratic party has made their lock stock and barrel in racial division in this country.
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: They have made it their sine qua non.
NAVARRO: There is also no doubt that --
(CROSSTALK) NAVARRO: There is no doubt that Luis Gutierrez words are incendiary but there's also no doubt that the DOJ under Jeff Sessions has gone anti-immigrant, anti LGBT --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: OK.
NAVARRO: -- and has done terrible things to take away voting rights.
