CNN host calls out GOP congressman for lying about Trump and McConnell's shutdown bill
Brianna Keilar to Rep. Tom Reed: The proposed bill “doesn't provide protection” and “guts DACA like 10 different ways”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the January 23 edition of CNN Right Now:
REP. TOM REED (R-NY): Well, there's movement now. As you saw the president address the nation, Brianna, in a way that I thought was compassionate, reasonable and said what is your counter response to this and to hear crickets, to hear bickering is something that is so frustrating to me as a member who wants to solve problems here in Washington.
BRIANNA KEILAR (HOST): You think he's compassionate? I mean, he doesn't even talk about the people who are getting screwed by this whole thing.
REED: Brianna, he's talking about our fellow American citizens that have lost loved ones as a result of the broken border with the crime and the drug addiction that is coming through with the heroin and opioids. I see compassion when he says those children, those DACA children, that we've been talking about for years. He's open to giving them some peace of mind and at least we can have a conversation on that part, so there's a movement by the president here, sincere movement. I've been with him Brianna.
KEILAR: I have so much to call you on there because the DACA consideration in the Senate, actually it doesn't provide protection, it guts DACA like 10 different ways.
REED: That's not true. Brianna, that is absolutely not true. That is not true.
KEILAR: That is the -- okay then let me ask you. No, no, no. Congressman --
REED: What we're doing is giving them three years protection for their future that is not on the table today.
KEILAR: Congressman, no. It makes them re-apply. It makes the very expensive application fee of $495 almost $1,000. It forces the level of what they have to prove to go higher. I mean, that's just the tip of the iceberg of some of the things in there. You talked about the borders and drugs, I mean the drugs are coming through the legal points of entry. You talked about --
REED: That's why the proposal -- that's why the proposal includes investments there to secure our ports of entry. We all agree, let us go forward.
KEILAR: He says it's the wall. You know, the CATO Institute takes issue with the crime of illegal immigrants. They've completely gutted that claim that you just made. I want to talk to you about the economy though here, because it's taken a hit --
REED: So the bottom line, Brianna, is that Nancy Pelosi, when she says she agrees that we need border security, you're saying there's no need for border security? I think the American people know better than that. They know our border needs security, it needs investments there, and our ports of entry need it, and we have a deal on the table in order to do that. Now is the time for leaders to step forward and let's get it done in the House because we want to get this done.
KEILAR: I'm not -- I'm not saying that there shouldn't be more border security. To be clear, I'm not taking a position on that. That's your deal.
REED: And that's exactly where a deal can be struck and then with these DACA children, we have the door open. Let's then push the door forward as Democrats and Republicans.
KEILAR: Sir, I mean, I just have to be -- the door is -- the door is not open there.
REED: It's on the table. I heard the president talk about it when he addressed the nation. He talked about the DACA plan --
KEILAR: The rhetoric and the plan -- Congressman, you know the rhetoric and the plan are entirely different here.
REED: That's not true. That's just not true.
KEILAR: It is so true. The Washington Post fact-check aside, from the things that I just named, the monetary fine and the --
REED: The president put DACA on the table. We have not heard any response from Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in response to that. If they have a better solution for the DACA children, there are many of us as Republicans that will stand with those children also.
KEILAR: Alright, so I have a question. So if you were in the reverse here and you had a Democratic president who put some sort of, say, what you would consider amnesty on the table and then complained that you didn't come back with a counter offer because clearly you wouldn't have thought that was serious from your perspective as a Republican, you know, you think you should take the blame in a situation like that?
REED: I think I would come. I know what I would do. I would go to the table and sit down and work this out. We can scream at each other for a half hour or 45 minutes, but at the end of the day I wouldn't leave the room. I'd be in the room working this out and solving this problem because the people back home and the folks that are suffering from these problems are the ones we should be putting first and foremost, not political rhetoric, political positioning that I think this ultimately is all about right now.
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Previously:
Media falsely blame “both sides” for government shutdown Trump said he is “proud” to own