from washington, the mclaughlin group, the american original, for over 3 decades, the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. >> coming to america. ♪ [ music ] ♪ . >> their parents need to know that this is an incredibly dangerous situation. and it is unlikely that their children will be able to stay. >> president obama visited texas this week and addressed the surge of adults and unaccompanied children who are crossing into the united states

illegally. over the past ten months, 52,000 unaccompanied children have crossed the u.s. mexican border with three-fourths of them originating in hon dur ross, guatemala and el salvador. local tension centers in texas, arizona and california have be overwhelmed by the influx. attempts at housing the immigrants elsewhere in the country have been met with resistance and protests. president obama on his fund raising trip to dallas, texas, delined to visit the somewhat distant texas, mexico border. and was criticized by both republicans and democrats for failing to do so. after all, he had air force one. but he dismissed the visit nonetheless. >> there's nothing that is taking place down there that i am not intimately aware of and briefed on. this isn't theatre. this is a problem.

i'm not interested in photo op, i'm interested in solveing the problem. >> the president says this knowing that texas governor rick perry wanted the nation's leader to stee complexity of the situation firsthand. >> what has to be addressed is the security of the border. you know that, i know that, the president of the united states knows that. i don't believe he particularly cares whether or not the border of the united states is secure. >> the two men met at the dallas airport and in a meeting with other elected efficient, they discussed the border problem. in a later cbs interview, governor perry likened the president's refusal l to visit the board e a ka tri na moment when mr. bush did not visit new orleans after a hurricane devastated that city until many days later. >> the parallel for me is that when we know a hurricane is coming, we put things into place so that we can deal with it. i have told this administration and others have told this

administration for years that this is exactly what was going to happen. >> question, in february 24th -- six months ago budget proposal; the department of health and human services requested funding for an anticipated 60,000 unaccompanied minors at the texas border. is that six months evidence that obama, the white house, knew all along about the borders? namely, that they would be swamped? bat buchanan. >> john, it is an argument that fulfills what people have been saying, that barack obama is a slooeb sleep at the swip, he is not a hands onment. things are -- president. things are going on -- benghazi and all the rest of it. more than his failure or refusal not to call and go down to the border when henry quellar, a democrat congressman, a border district down there said come on down and comparing him taco tri na, indicates this is a serious

problem for thement, he's not running again. this border issue job is this issue is going to me tas size and this is going to, be, i believe, border security, whole immigration security, it will kill reform and going to be a major issue in the republican, in the politics of 2016. >> well, the administration knew for many months that the numbers of unaccompanied minors were flowing across the border. soit was not a surprise and they were trying to put the resources in place to deal with it. he didn't go to the border. if he'd gone, you'd be accusing him of grand standing, i'm sure. but i think you can't argue that you don't like photo ops and then spend three days on the road essentially doing photo ops, meeting with voters in a diner and shooting pool and all of that. so i think the oment ibs are torrential. but the meeting with governor

perry, they found lots of agreement, president has said he's open to the national guard, he has just deployed the national guard to the border once or twice before. president bush also did. maybe this is time to think about you know, putting some troops along the border, as a deternlt. but in the meantime, these are children that have been sent here by desperate parents to get them away from -- what is the i kwif lent of assassination squad, the gangs rule these place, and for girls, it's sex trafficking, and you know, both parties are complicit in this, because legislation passed by vote by partisan in 2008 signed by president bush, basically says these children should get due process and be treated as ref few gee, i don't think we want to walk away from that. we have to remember what this country stands for. >> the federal government issued a bid for benders, to handle an

influx of 65,000 unaccompanied minors. january 29th. so there was a lot of notice given to this. is this evidence that the obama administration knew the numbers would surge this year? i ask you? >> absolutely, as ed of that, but let's also remember that the republican controlled house also knew about it. both sides of the ail are complicit in this, john. barack obama, obviously, made a total p r blunder by not going down to the border. his entire message would have resonated far more deeply had it done it from a theatre stage like that, whether he denies it or not. however, whoo what we have to consider is he's actually now said to the congress, discretely, two weeks ago, he's open to changing the legal structure right now, to give his departments the power to kick

illegal immigrants out, more easily. particularly from honduras and guatemala and he's kibd it over to the republicans and congress, right now, they're arguing about whether or not to fund the very initiatives that rick perry is ask ing for. so both sides are complicit in this. >> hold on. okay. the pay out. the president has asked congress for 3.7 billion dollars to deal with the texas crisis. here's the money break down. 1.8 billion for child care. food shelter and medicine. by the department of health and human services. 1.1 billion for the immigration ask customs enforcement agency, ice, i c e, within the u.s. department of homeland security. with that 1.1 billion including expenses for undocumented adults traveling with children. their detention, and removal. another separate disbursement 433 million dollars for homeland

securities customs and border protection. also, 64 million for teams of immigration judges, expansion of courtroom capacity and lawyers to assist both the detain knees and the u.s. government. and 295 million to quote, unquote, repate yat and migrants to central america. a k a send them back. for the funding of media campaigns in central america to my grags to the u.s. warnings that such journeys to the u.s. are very dangerous and children will be sent back if they are unaccompanied. 5 million dollars. question, is money the answer to this growing calamity, you can also reflect on the previous question? >> well, of course, it's a part of the answer. there's no question about it. we're going to have to expand the court system, we're going to have to expand the officers who are patrolling the borders, we're going to have to expand all kinds of support facilities for a lot of these people who are coming in, whatever we may

do on the border. the problem is, it's always been the case in the united states, the president is the person who symbolizes policy, for him to have a drink at a bar instead of going down to the border, just is terrible public relations for him. and gives people the sense that he doesn't care. it may be unfair, but you're the president of the united states, you've got to ho up and he didn't show up. >> john, but look, this problem has existed since i ran in 1991 down on the border, terrible problem then in san antonio, a failure of -- san diego, both bushes, and it's a disaster for this country, and quite frankly, john, one of the problems is, if united states will not call up the government of mexico, the president of mexico and tell him, look, you are letting these children walk up to our border and walk into our country and you're going to stop doing that or you're going to cancel naf to and call up the central american president, want another dime in foreign aid you're going to deal with it at home.

that creates this problem -- >> before 911 people in guatemala and honduras and el value va dor would come to this country freely and work at very low wages and they would send money back and they would leave their children in these countries. after 911, the gates came down and now these children are coming, they want to be reunited with parents they haven't seen for a decade. >> go home. >> i don't think that's the answer, pat. when people have made their lives here. well, that's what congress is sorting out. if they broken in, they've broken in because our business is the one that employs them, they deserve something in return. >> republican house speaker john boehner responds to president obama's request for money to deal with the immigration crisis. >> our priorities are clear. take care of these children, return them safely home to their home countries, to their families and secure the border. i sent a letter to the president laying out specific actions that

he should take to address the crisis. including sending in the national guard. the national guard is uniquely qualified to address these types of humanitarian crises and utilizing their -- free up border agents, at the focus on their job, but securing the border. now, the president said yesterday he'd consider doing that only if he gets more money but no strings attached. in other words, he won't do it for the kids, it's all about politics. this is a problem of the president's own making. he's been president for five and a half years. when is he going to take responsibility for something? >> question, is this a problem of the president's own making? as speaker boehner asserts? >> i think to some degree, it is, and i think that's why john boehner just took off like an airplane, so to speak, and began turning in this into hyper politics. at the same time, boehner is not

offering a real solution, the obama requests, the white house request to congress for the money, specifically said tell me how you want to -- how you want the money spent. to rather than ranting from the podium, john boehner could be say, we're preparing that right now and it's going to include national guard and this is -- we'll give you the money if you do this. >> going to be legislation on the floor and the senate pretty soon, probably pay, go to the house and let's see what john boehner does. he could pay us comprehensive immigration reform based on that senate bill, it would pass in a minute. democrats would -- >> no longer be speaker -- >> no longer be speaker anymore, and i don't -- much to anybody. >> hold on. >> quickly. >> reform is dead and mr. perry, if he's a wise man, i think he's pretty smart can ride this issue into the primaries because it blazing issue, it has gone national now, it's been on television, take a look at

drudge, 30 stories about it. up on his website, it's gone on for weeks now. >> taken off and. >> obama is on the defensive. >> adding fuel to the fire. >> prior to visiting texas, the president was in the state of colorado. where he shot some pool tuesday night at a bar. originally founded by colorado governor jon hickenlooper. the president also drank some beer with the governor. but one offer was made to mr. obama in which he driened, a man off camera, marijuana joint and extended an invitation to thement, quote, do you want to hit this? unquote. listen closely. >> do you want to hit this? >> colorado recently legalized recreational marijuana. >> question. so why is the president obama so uptight by taking a friendly toek? wasn't that rude? >> i thought he handle led that pretty well. look, the contrast between what's going on in the border and him with the pool -- and

shooting pool, having beer. >> it's legal. >> relaxing and having a wonderful time. then you go to this crisis on the border with these kids, people can -- >> republican politics. >> i don't mind if he does that, but he has to show up at these kind of places; it's also republican politics, desperately trying to whip this up for november. after their party looks like it's reapologeticing the fastest growing voter like in this country. >> by the way -- >> rick perry wants to stamp out ted cruise in texas. >> if he mingles with the people, he gets hit if he doesn't mingle with the people. what is it? >> well, i think the marijuana that he was offered was grown in the united states. and it may have -- >> and legal. >> it may have been a good move for him to accept it, because it is legal. >> i don't think so. >> the economy -- >> the issue is whether the

marijuana was grown in the united states or grown in mexico. the issue is marijuana -- >> john, if he'd smoked that marijuana, it would have not be a democrat in america that would want him to come in and campaign. >> the question. a question. is the border break-down helping, hurting, or having no impact on p president obama's political standing? pat. >> i believe it is really hurting him badly and i think that the white house staff is tearing its hair out that he didn't call that -- and go down to the border i think he probably should have gone to the borderer, with the senate, control the senate at stake, i don't think we know how this issue is going to work. republicans do not look accepting of hispanics and that's going to hurt them politically. >> do you think it's going to be neutral? >> it's going to flip one way or the other. >> right now, i think very

little. i think there are latin mesh groups on the far -- latin-american groups on the far left that don't like his openness to changing the rules, which he suggested, but more importantly, john, this is affecting rick perry more than it is barack obama. >> positively or negatively. >> positively. >> the plane has taken off, right pat? >> head to head by the president of the united states is where you want to be as a republican. >> who won in that battle? >> rick perry. >> he's winning. >> the president. >> look where rick perry started, though. >> out and over president obama -- >> the visible exchange that was just -- we just had on television. >> rick perry for you. >> fall all over himself in the public's fear three years ago, he's now using this to come out and he's -- >> rick perry look presidential to you? >> yes, he is, and very skrud

and very capable. he's not to be underestimated. >> a star is born. >> don't forget the mclaughlin group has its own website. and earlier programs on the web. at any time from anywhere in the world, the mclaughlin.com. could anything be easier or more enriching? >> i can't think of anything. >> more angst for john kerry. >> at the start of his tenure at secretary of state, john kerry made reinvig ration of the peace talks between the israel -- a top priority. here's what secretary said on july 30, 2013, one year ago. >> quote. the parties have agreed here today that all of the final issues, all of the core issue, and all other issues are all on the table for negotiation. and they are on the table with one simple goal: of you to ending the conflict, ending the claims. our objective will to b to achieve a final status agreement

over the course of the next nine months. unquote. >> well, that was then. here's the situation now. fighting between the palestinians and the israelis has heated up since the murders of three israeli teenagers, the murder of a palestinian youth, said to have been burned to death. hamas has now launched throws of rockets from the gaza strip. and israel has retaliated with targeted strikes against hamas militants. question, are those peace talks now dead? >> no, they're not. and they never will be dead. it doesn't mean they're going to happen or successful at this stage of the game, because of all that's going on. no, i don't believe they're dead. need it and some point or another will have the proper result. what's happening now, though, is one of the most serious moments of clash between -- particularly because hamas has merged with --

and that chaz changed the whole -- the p l o. that's changed the whole role of abbas. the palestinian movement and that puts a whole different character to it. even having said that, i think there is going to be a chance for some kind of progress, not final solution, it won't happen in the short run. but -- >> hamas -- >> hamas is very weak at this point, okay. they joined up with the palestinians. but they're broke. they had 40 thousand employees, they had no money, and the p l os are refusing to pay for it. the palestinian authority is not going to pay for it. they're being margin liezed. and if -- has a chance to pull off a deal now. >> john, the peace talks are dead for now. they're dead indefinitely.

who did not want to give up gaza is not going to give up the west bank, he may very well go back into gaza. as for hamas, they are not going to negotiate with the israelis, they wanted a ten year truce, and quite frankly, this, john, this is a bloody mess and it's very difficult to see how not that you get back to peace talks, but how you get this to a truce, and stop the fighting and stop the killing, because this could spread not only to the west bank, but into the larger arab world where arabs are forced to respond. >> the challenge is to deescalate. i don't think either side wants a war. i don't think israel wants it. but neither of them know how to walk away. these are kids who were murdered is really driving this. >> give me a view on this. where's the off ramp right now? itself great to think this could end. watching it closely, including representatives from the israeli defense forces, will admit that

there's not -- >> what abthe -- the gu rus at the state department. >> gu are yous. >> they have no leverage at this point. >> what do they think? >> me declares the process dead. >> when, a couple of days ago. >> in the last week. basically. but it's important, i think, to look at the facts here. that the way that the cease fire in 2012 between hamas and israel was reached was through an interlocator, which was month ham med morsi, out of power. >> now president of egypt is a tremendous supporter of this in part because he's -- influence over -- he's blocked hamas. okay. he's stopped a lot of what they do, he's stopped their smuggling -- weaken hamas dramatically. >> the kweks, on a scale of 1 to 10 and one being -- how much

will these hostilities delay the peace talks: it killed them for the indefinite feature. >> 5. >> 8.2. >> 4. >> 6. >> issue three. when it feels right. >> when are you going to decide whether you're running for president? >> you know, i'm going to decide when it feels right for me to decide. because -- >> by the end of this year? >> well, you know, certainly not before then. i just want to kind of get through this year -- travel around the country, help in the midterm elections in the fall and then take a deep breath. >> there are three democratic women who might give hillary a run for their money, progressives. senator elizabeth warren said to be a favorite of the obama white house, kirsten -- who hold's hillary's old new york senate seat and amy -- who has made several exploratory trips to iowa. all three democratic senators signed a letter to hillary,

pledging their support if she does definitively throw her hat in the ring. but the challenge to hillary from the democratic left would help her redefine herself as a political -- a shift that some say is already underway. >> question, would hilly clinton be better off with a strong challenge in the democratic primary ris or better off facing a field of white weights that she can easily beat? >> i think she would be better off facing a challenger, but i've got to tell you, john, she just looks like she's gaining steam, and polish, and all of the criticism that's been hurled at her when she was secretary of state, it's still there, but it is not gaining steam. so -- >> why do you think she would be better off? >> well, because i think it would force the party to come together a little bit. and hash out differences between the far left and the center. and on the issue of foreign policy, i think that hillary

clinton didn't really like the foreign policy of the obama administration, if she had, she probably would have stayed a little longer how did that show itself? >> i showed it's now in this kind of alignment she's making with people who are on the right. particularly, she would have want td a harder hitting, more sort of nation -- >> do you share his opinion on that? >> i do. in this sense. i think hillary would benefit from having a good left wing progressive -- >> primarily. >> give their ideaology a jolly run in the yard and bring them back into the camp for the general election. however, let me say one thing. i do believe that hillary has suffered tremendously in the last month, her book -- all of this money she's got in the buck raking, 250,000 for speeches at colleges, i think she is moving herself for away above and beyond the populous base of the

democratic party, opening the vulnerability that can be filled not by a woman. >> by the time those primaries get underway, and i love all three women you mentioned. warren -- but that would be like fielding the harlem globe trotters against the nba. it's, just you know, they're not going to run. they all committed to hillary. they're tl will be some male candidates in the race, but the shoot them up will be on the republican sign, all of the history of primaries, if you don't have any serious primary opposition that gives you a good head start for the fall, plenty to do watching the republicans chew each other up. >> about the globe trotters, the globe trotters is hillary. >> no, no. the globe trotters is the fake team that would get on the field. >> the globe trotters always win. >> i'm not -- i'm not -- i mean the washington generals. >> is this a -- slip on your

part? >> no, it's just ignorance. it's ignorance, of course. i'm glad you -- >> the harlem globe troters used to beat every game. >> just rescue her from any further interrogation? >> have you ever seen hilly ri play basketball, she's fantastic. let me tell you something. i think hillary is an outstanding candidate, the overwhelmingly the choice of the democratic party. get through whatever the primaries are and be the democratic nominee. >> people can see that? >> she will have plenty of exposure, already had plenty of exposure, she was after all all, not only secretary of state -- >> debate between two dands -- you know what a prior may si. >> read a lot about this. -- >> if you were giving advice to hillary, would you advice her to be primary or nonprimary.

>> i would go straight for the -- >> exactly. and. >> what about you? >> it's not up to her. >> i think it's going to help the party come together. >> yeah, in the po the post obama area. >> out of time. bye-bye

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