Vicente Fox reacts to the White House immigration plan
Laura Ingraham goes one-on-one with the former Mexican president on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
This is a rush transcript from "The Ingrahm Angle," January 25, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: Everybody, welcome to "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington, an evening of major breaking news on both sides of the Atlantic and we have it all covered for you. You don't want to move, President Trump at Davos in Switzerland and he's explaining to world leaders and business honchos why his America first policies are actually going to be good for a lot of other people, as well.
Back in Washington the White House drops a bombshell immigration plan and they do it ahead of schedule of President Vicente Fox might actually like this plan. That is scary to me.
People on both sides of the aisle are up in arms and in moments I will take on frequent Trump critic, and former president from Mexico, Vicente Fox, on the details of that immigration plan and a lot more.
Plus, we have five months of those missing text messages between the FBI's lovebirds and they have actually been found. We asked, and they have been found. We are going to tell you what the investigators have uncovered thus far.
But first, Trump takes on the elites in Davos, that is the focus of tonight's Angle.
The global elite gather once a year in a small town nestled in the Swiss Alps to discuss political, economic and humanitarian challenges facing the world. As a businessman, Trump actually never made the guest list and he is the first president to go to Davos since Bill Clinton, who only attended his last year in office.
Though, it's a conference where your net worth is described with Bs and not Ms, and where people with Trump's populist views are considered persona non-grata. World leaders from business to politics issued a series of dire warnings in advance of Trump's appearance at Davos, and I'll bet they made the editorial writers at the Wall Street Journal giddy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now he is going to Davos. This is really oil meeting water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From my perspective, I feel like he's going to get a bad reception there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This year, the protesters seemed particularly inspired.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump takes the fun out of fondue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That is a bad poster. They were really stretching. Well, once again, Trump has to fight expectations and is surprising the world. The president crashed their swanky globalist party today and though, the world leaders continue to hit his policies on trade as protectionist, they are taking notice.
Elites scrambled to take selfies with him and they could not stop talking about him. They were elbowing each other out of the way along that stairway or escalator to get close and there was substance from the president as well.
It wasn't just they wanted a photo, they wanted to hear what he had to say and sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump threatened to withhold aid to the Palestinians unless they return to peace talks. And then, this is important, he challenged Netanyahu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Israel says they want to make peace. They are going to have to want to make peace too or we will have nothing to do with them any longer. They never got past Jerusalem. We took it off the table. You will win a point and give up points later in the negotiation if it ever takes place. I don't know if that will ever take place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Wait a second, I don't think we talk about that. I think that's a gutsy negotiator working for a deal in real time, you see it all play out. Then the president sat down with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who still suffering from the post-Brexit blues. And it has been reported that she has had a very strained relationship with President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The prime minister and myself have had a really great relationship although some people don't necessarily believe that, but I can tell you --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Well, at the conclusion of the meeting, it was announced that the president's trip to the U.K. is back on track, it will happen within the year. It will be a working trip, we don't know, but is a win, nonetheless.
And contrary to all that hyperbole coming from the "we are the world" types, Trump will not stop trading with other countries. He is not itching to blow up the world and he is not going to stop all immigration into the U.S.
In fact, we have a lot of news later in the show about what will be specifically offered and the president's deal on immigration. What president Trump will do is he'll pursue changes in policies that have been detrimental to U.S. workers, manufacturing and importantly, U.S. wages.
Now what does that mean? That means America will no longer tolerate being taken advantage by freeloaders or cheated in international trade deals or have its intellectual property stolen by rivals. Those days are over.
Whether you are an ally like South Korea or an adversary like China, our president has put you on notice that the old days of practicing globalization on the backs of the American people are also over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: My administration is taking power back from global bureaucrats and returning that power back to the American people and you see it all the time. You see it economically, you see it at the church and in every different way. We do not sing a global anthem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: We sing the American anthem. He has not president of the world, he is president of the United States. Though some of these world leaders continue to deride his policies and shied him from the sidelines, they are taking notice.
And if you listen closely, it is hard to miss how Trumpism, the pragmatic approach to issues like asylees and refugees and immigration is maybe transforming the way other leaders think about these issues. This is the German Chancellor Angela Merkel from today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Even foreign-policy has not been all that -- in the past and need to take more responsibility. We need to take our destiny into our own hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: We agree, Angela, take your own destiny into your own hands, that is called sovereignty. That's what we are all about, independent free nations with unique identities standing up for their own interests and working with others. That is what Trump is all about. That's what Trump is actually doing here.
We are taking our own destiny into our own hands and we are not allowing some far-off bureaucracy to decide our future for us. After seeing Trump's leadership on border enforcement and immigration in the U.S., Ms. Merkle might be seeing a little bit of the light herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MERKEL (through translator): When you look at it in hindsight we say how can we miss out on this and not think about this? We are safe and secure and now working on an entry and exit system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: It's no wonder. In Germany in 2016, the crime rate among migrants and refugees skyrocketed by more than 50 percent. According to "The Telegraph," migrants committed nearly 175,000 suspected crimes in Germany. Suddenly, President Trump's law and order approach at the border is looking pretty good, isn't it?
So, the elites still snipe, though, at Trump for his dismissal of their climate change dogma as the French president did today or they bristle at his decision to renegotiate NAFTA or stand up to cheating and intellectual property theft by China and other nations.
He is, undoubtedly, shaking up the world order and reshaping the global debate in a very positive way, and though, it might not make him any friends at Davos, Trump's America first philosophy is reviving our economy at home and its positioning us to lead from a place of strength and it's about time, and that is the Angle.
Joining me now is former president of Mexico and frequent Trump critique, Vicente Fox, the author of a brand-new book just out, "Let's Move On: Beyond Fear and False Prophets." He is an author and have been chatting about a lot of things. It's great to see you. How are you?
VICENTE FOX, FORMER MEXICAN PRESIDENT: My pleasure, Laura. Thank you for inviting me.
INGRAHAM: I said we would do the whole thing in Spanish, but I am not quite as good as I need to be. President Fox, you heard some of the monologue there. Your reaction to Trump at Davos. I mean, you have said everything from compared him to Hitler, an ugly American, rude, racist, going to start a war, not a real leader.
One year into the Trump administration, the American economy is thriving. Manufacturing is up. Wages in some sectors are up. Confidence is at an all-time high. African-American unemployment 17-year low since it was recorded. So, many great barometers, but you really have nothing positive to say about him.
FOX: No. But let me tell you, it is good that the economy moves. We all knew the world economy before Trump and with Trump is getting close to 5 percent growth. So, it is dynamic and growing. The (inaudible) of 80 percent of the economy of the global economy outside of the U.S.
So, yes, there might be a something to recognize that Trump with the economic activity pretty much depends on expectations. So, we are still waiting to see that all of this becomes true and then the economy will keep going.
INGRAHAM: You a tribute that to Obama or to Trump?
FOX: I attribute it to U.S. citizens, corporations, universities.
INGRAHAM: But they are responding to his policies, are they not, Mr. President?
FOX: (Inaudible) so powerful, so great --
INGRAHAM: So, Trump can't change it.
FOX: That it moves on its own.
INGRAHAM: So, moves on its own?
FOX: (Inaudible) doing better, I'm sure.
INGRAHAM: OK, that is wild. I have to think of the Spanish word for what I'm thinking. It will come to me. Let's talk about the White House immigration proposal, an issue that you really care a lot about. It came out tonight --
FOX: This is DACA.
INGRAHAM: The 1.8 million DACA DREAMers protected, that's a million more than the 800,000 he was offering to help last week, $25 billion for border wall and security, eliminate the visa lottery, change it. Those 50,000 a year would go toward the people now waiting in line to come legally, and keeping the nuclear family together but extending the family chain migration. It's 1.8million people given amnesty.
FOX: Yes, 1 million more than what he said last week, but 1 million from what he said two weeks ago. I hope he gains credibility. Everyone doubts it will happen. My only concern is that it is conditioned to getting $25 billion from Congress so that makes me happy because then Mexico is not going to pay for it.
So, the U.S. Congress and taxpayers will pay for that wall. Number two, it doesn't make me happy because to exchange one young, dreamy person that is facing the future for himself, for $1 I would not change it.
So, 25,000 I would not exchange it. So, I don't know why you have to tie up together these two things. Let's get those kids really supported. They want to stay here and if not, we welcome them in Mexico, we would love to have them.
They have university degrees and they are great human talents. On the case of the 25,000, how many good things you can do with 25,000 --
INGRAHAM: It's 25 billion. You have never been a big fan of the wall, to say the least. You call it Trump again rude and racist --
FOX: (Inaudible) criminals.
INGRAHAM: When he announced he was running, he said there are other people that are good people coming across. You have manners of speech in Spanish statement -- you do understand that Mexico has a problem keeping her own people in her country, satisfying their economic needs.
Satisfying their need to be safe from criminals so they flee your country and come to our country. Why can't you keep your own people happy in your own country, are you going to blame Trump for that too?
FOX: It was created exactly for that purpose to bring into Mexico (inaudible), jobs so that migration would be reduced.
INGRAHAM: Why are we still getting so many?
FOX: Let me tell you the real facts. When NAFTA started, you would make $1 on the Mexican side and $10 on the U.S. side when NAFTA started.
INGRAHAM: We have a $63 billion trade deficit with Mexico.
(CROSSTALK)
FOX: Twenty five years later, today is 5:1.
INGRAHAM: We are subsidizing Mexico through NAFTA.
FOX: Not subsidizing.
INGRAHAM: I want to get to some other things because NAFTA was supposed to solve this. NAFTA has been great for you. You have a $63 billion trade surplus, which is good for you, but not good for American car manufacturers.
FOX: The profits of GM, Chrysler --
INGRAHAM: They can move their companies any day of the week that they want to Mexico. If they want to do that, they can do that, but our policies are no longer going to encourage that. That's what president Trump has said.
FOX: We import $40 billion --
INGRAHAM: That is a small percentage compared to the heavy manufacturing - - big (inaudible) wants more, no doubt about it.
Let's go back to what Newsweek said about you when you were president back in 2006. Vicente Fox has spent the past five years urging the United States to upgrade the status of millions of illegals from Mexico. Meanwhile, his own government has given legal status to only 15,000 foreigners without papers.
You deported 140,000 in 2003 and deported 120,000 in 2002 and from 2002 to 2006, the number of the detainments and deportations was up 74 percent. So, you are trashing the U.S. for deporting Mexicans and other people from our country, we don't do that much, and meanwhile, you are deporting plenty of people and lots of problems with the way immigrants were treated in the early part of your tenure.
FOX: Yes. That is true. Those people are my heroes and they contribute to this economy like nobody else or like everybody else.
INGRAHAM: Who are your heroes?
FOX: The Mexicans here in the states.
INGRAHAM: Why did you only give legal status to illegal immigrants in your country to only 15,000 people, why?
FOX: We did not have the capacity because we are --
INGRAHAM: But you are a humanitarian and Trump is Hitler.
FOX: I try to do as much as possible.
INGRAHAM: You could only get 15,000. You had to get rid of these hundreds and hundreds of Guatemalans? You are the president of Mexico and got poor grades for way you treated migrants.
FOX: Mexico is full employment.
INGRAHAM: You have a $63 billion trade deficit with our country.
FOX: We work NAFTA.
INGRAHAM: You work NAFTA but it's going to be renegotiated it. Are you happy with that?
FOX: Did you remember the time the United States would force us to open our market from World War II up to 2000? That is why it grew so much by trading with the rest of the world.
INGRAHAM: China has a $363 billion trade deficit. Mr. President, I am not denying NAFTA has been great for Mexico, but we actually --
FOX: For the United States.
INGRAHAM: We have a $63 billion trade deficit with Mexico that cannot -- and it's mostly automobile. I am not worried about aquaculture. My question to you is --
FOX: What about China?
INGRAHAM: We are doing it all. Trump is doing it all. With all of your movies and gave the middle finger to Trump, you are like a distinguished elder statesman and doing videos where you are putting up the middle finger to the president. If Trump is rude and all these things, why are you --
FOX: Because he has offended us and the rest of the world. It is not true, it is diplomacy.
INGRAHAM: He is defending the rest of the world by America coming back stronger. If that is offending the rest of the world, I am not really worried about the rest of the world being offended. They didn't like Reagan, did they?
FOX: We love Reagan.
INGRAHAM: We have a lot of Mexicans living in the United State, why is that an offense to you? I love the Mexican people. I just want the America -- immigration needs to work for our country just like it needs to work for you. So, 1.8million DREAMers amnesty, you like that?
FOX: Yes but not condition to $25 million (inaudible).
INGRAHAM: Do we need a border with Mexico?
FOX: There is no choice.
INGRAHAM: But you would prefer not to? We should not have a border?
FOX: We should not have a border. This will happen in the next generation because we will be on a 1:1.
INGRAHAM: We will see. I love the fact that you adopted your four children and is so admirable. We had that in common. Thank you. Mexico will be better off after NAFTA is renegotiated, I promise you.
There are big developments on the Russia probe and the questions of FBI corruption and missing text messages. We have a lot more to get to. Keep it locked right here, do not step away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: As obvious as it sounds the Justice Department's inspector general just found the missing texts between those two FBI agents. What did he do? Well, he merely took possession of the phones. Can you imagine?
The FBI claimed over the weekend, they could not find the five months of texts between Strzok and Page, but it took the inspector general just two days after senators demanded the answers. Good for him.
Also breaking tonight, Fox News can now confirm that President Trump ordered the firing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller last June, but he backed down after White Counsel Don McGahn and others convinced him not to. That news was first reported by The New York Times earlier tonight.
Let's explore that and a lot else with the former Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz in Miami, and in Orlando, Congressman Ron DeSantis, Republican from Florida, and here in studio, my friend, attorney, and Democratic strategist, Scott Bolden.
All right. We have a lot to get through. Professor, let's start with you on this "New York Times" report that the president wanted to ax Mueller and McGahn said, can't do it. If you do it, I am out.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, HARVARD LAW: Well, it just shows you that everybody should listen to their lawyers whether you're the president of the United States or anybody else. McGahn's advice was very, very sound advice.
Look, the president has the constitutional authority to fire anybody in the executive branch and the Supreme Court has held that. On the other hand, it would have been very unwise, politically, and it would have sounded like an admission of some kind of guilt.
He is so much better off following his current lawyer's advice, as well, which says, look, be nice to Mueller, say you have nothing to hide, be willing to sit down and be interviewed by him under oath and have nothing to lose when you do it under oath.
This is just as much a crime to lie not under oath as under oath, and respond to the questions and try to wrap up the inquiry. That is the best advice that he possibly get.
INGRAHAM: That's what he said yesterday when he left for Davos. I am fine with sitting down under oath, answering question. That's the better tact. I've always said it would have been a ridiculous idea. I would not have fired Comey when he did. I would have claimed --
DERSHOWITZ: I agree with you.
INGRAHAM: A huge mistake. Scott, I want to go with you about the text and then go to the congressman. Scott, the idea of firing Mueller, you can look at me now. The "New York Times" is going nuts for this. The president has the constitutional prerogative to do it. I mean, he is a regular guy. He's used to firing people when he doesn't like them. Is this a big bombshell in your eyes?
SCOTT BOLDEN, NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION PAC CHAIR: It is a bit bombshell because it's Donald Trump. The idea that he followed his lawyer's advice, thank goodness for that. I have to give that GOP lawyer that. Here is the bottom line, Donald Trump really thinks DOJ works for him. He thinks everybody --
INGRAHAM: Well, that do works for him.
BOLDEN: They really don't and represent the people of the United States of America.
INGRAHAM: He is the chief executive officer --
BOLDEN: He maybe, but he cannot fire someone legitimately who is investigating them without turning this into a constitutional crisis.
INGRAHAM: You are making a point of politics and I agree with you. Pragmatically and appearance wise, it would look terrible, but as a constitutional matter, as Professor Dershowitz pointed out, as the chief executive officer of the country, as the head of the executive branch, he has the authority to fire anyone. He could fire Mueller right now.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDEN: My point is he thinks that. He thinks the DOJ works for him.
INGRAHAM: Professor Dershowitz, you do expect, and every president expects some loyalty from the people who work under him and don't go off half- cocked on an issue. If he thinks the Russian investigation is ridiculous, he is going to express his frustration. I have no problem with that.
DERSHOWITZ: I have a problem but is the problem with the Constitution. The framers made a terrible mistake by combining two officers together, one the advisor to the president and the other, the chief prosecutor. Most other countries divide those functions --
INGRAHAM: OK, we cannot revise that. Ron, we covered that issue. Let's move on to the missing texts that were discovered, and a lot of people thought you had to go to the NSA for these texts, but they found them including one interesting text in particular.
Strzok and Page discussed via text how many personnel from DOJ and FBI would be included in the Clinton investigation and they said one more thing, she might be our next president. The last thing you need is us going in there and loaded for bear. Do you think she is going to remember or care that it was more DOJ than FBI?
Strzok says agreed. I called Bill and relayed what we discussed. He agrees. I will email you and (redacted) same. Does that indicate more of a kid gloves treatment to Hillary in that one text or are we making too much of that, Ron?
REP. RON DESANTIS, R-FLA.: Well, I think it does, but you know that not the only thing we have. I mean, we have the whole investigation and how it was conducted and all the inflection points, they were bending over backwards not to make a case against Hillary.
Writing the memo two months before they interviewed her and changing grossly negligent, which is criminal culpability to extreme carelessness. So, I think it's one more data point that these two folks in the FBI did have a political bias.
But I also think, you know, the FBI said and DOJ, we cannot fight these things and just like the IRS with Louis Lerner's e-mails. They did not even really look for them and hear the inspector general gets them in the next two days.
So, I want to know who is responsible for sending that response to Congress saying they were deleted because that was not true.
INGRAHAM: That is odd. Adam Schiff spoke out, I guess, it was earlier today about what Republicans' tactics are. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF. The Republicans, many of them, are all too desperate to distract attention from the Russia probe and try to put the government on trial and has been a strategy for quite some time now even when they have no basis to do it, it does not stop them from making the most scandalous accusations against these professionals at the FBI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DERSHOWITZ: I am not a Republican.
INGRAHAM: It's directed at the congressman. Let me just say, Chris Matthews also said since when do Republicans have such a problem with law enforcement? They could flip it on them and say, since when did liberals not have concerns about the abuse of authority by the federal law enforcement.
(CROSSTALK)
REP. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: I have a military background and law enforcement and I can tell you the reason why I support law enforcement is the same reason why I'm upset about what I've seen because that's not representative of law enforcement. These are people who were not doing the job the way it's supposed to be done and in order to have confidence in the system, if people are not behaving properly, if there was abuses, you need oversight over those and people need to be held accountable to just act like these agencies should be able to go on with no oversight, no accountability. That is not something that I want to sign up for.
INGRAHAM: Professor and then I want to go to Scott.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, PROFESSOR, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: There's no question of structure to recuse himself. He knew before anybody else did about his own biases and he should be fired now. No person in the FBI, no justice department official should not recuse themselves when they've written those kinds of e-mails, those kinds of texts, those kinds of messages and his failure to recuse himself from the investigation for me is a fireable offense. But he's certainly has done that.
SCOTT BOLDEN, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION: What's bothersome about this is how politics and the GOP and House and Senate have politicized and weaponized this information that they're receiving by a subpoena and then picking and choosing parts of it and using it to discredit DOJ and FBI. It's wrong. That's why criminal investigations ought not to be commented on until they are complete and the allegations against the Democrats or DOJ and FBI are so negative and it's unnecessary and inappropriate.
INGRAHAM: I think the question we're going to determine is whether the FISA process was weaponized to try to stop Trump from becoming president or after. We'll see.
BOLDEN: Keep the focus on that movement all along.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, we'll see in the full context. Gentlemen, great segment, as always.
And I have a question, guys, could President Trump stop the backlash from his base over his new immigration plan? How did it go from 800,000 getting amnesty to 1.8 million? Sounds like a Jeff Flake plan to me when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: The White House just unveiled the new immigration framework to address the DACA problem and border enforcement. Here's what they're proposing, it looks like. A path of citizenship, for now 1.8 million illegal immigrants, who arrived as children, much more than the 800,000 currently under just the DACA protection. $25 billion for border wall and security. And elimination of the visa lottery program and an end to chain migration, they call it protecting the nuclear family. That's how they're describing that.
But how will this fly with the Trump base and also my reaction from my guests to that interview I just did with Vicente Fox. I'm joined by Fox News contributor, former congressman, Jason Chaffetz from Phoenix. And here in studio, former Obama state department official, David Tafuri. Great to see both of you.
Before we get into this immigration plan, David, you are watching Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico for six years. What were your thoughts on that?
DAVID TAFURI, FORMER OBAMA STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, you guys didn't agree on very much. I thought you had a very interesting line of questioning, which is pointing out that when he was president of Mexico, they only legalized 15,000 immigrants and they deported hundreds of thousands of immigrants. That's not really consistent with his criticism of the U.S. and I didn't think he explained that very well. But I do think some of his criticism about President Trump are accurate.
INGRAHAM: Jason, Vicente Fox has pretty much called Donald Trump everything on the book, every name on the book and calling Trump rude and he respond by being -- probably even more rude. I don't think that was all that convincing.
JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, I think he has been childish, at best over the 1st year. To not acknowledge the success that Donald Trump has had as a president of the United States is just inaccurate. But I thought it was interesting his take on the wall. You don't see -- I think his opposition to the wall and building a fence is the fact that it'll actually work. I think people like Vicente Fox are actually OK with human trafficking. I think they're OK with the moving of drugs because it's good for the economy of Mexico and the fact that the wall -- fact of the matter is the wall works. They don't actually want to solve that problem.
INGRAHAM: When Trump said they're sending their criminals, the people who come through -- and El Salvador, MS-13 from Salvador, you think they want to hang out in Cabo? I don't think so. They want to go up to California. Which they do.
CHAFFETZ: And there's nobody that's trying to break into Mexico from the United States. It is a one-way move.
INGRAHAM: All right. Let's go to the immigration plan by the White House, because this has really surprised a lot of people. Congressman, 1.8 million people getting amnesty, a jump from a million from last week, already getting favorable reviews from some of the more open borders Republican types, but I'm getting pinged with text after text. People saying, how was Trump negotiating against himself here? What's your reaction?
CHAFFETZ: Three of the four points I'm OK with, but the special pathway to citizenship, absolutely not. That's not what he campaigned on. It's not what he promised. It's not something -- if I were still in congress that I could vote for and support, I'm OK with the legal status, but I don't see them. I think they should get in line like everybody else. And you know who were not serving the people that are forgotten? The people who weren't willing to break the law. The people who are trying to come here legally and lawfully. The people who have been waiting in line, those are the people we have been failing. I don't think they should get a special pathway to citizenship. Not one person, let alone 1.8 million of them.
INGRAHAM: And, David, Nancy Pelosi -- I don't think we have the full screen. But Nancy Pelosi has already come out blasting it as blatantly anti-immigrant. She just went on and on and on. We do have it. Oh, great. "The 50 percent cut to legal immigration, the framework and the recent announcements to end temporary protected status for central Americans and Haitians are both part of the same cruel agenda. They are part of the Trump administration's unmistakable campaign to make America White again." Oh, isn't she lovely? I think we need to update that photo to make it more recent, by the way.
What's your reaction to that? Come on, 1.8 million from Donald Trump and she's calling it like a white supremacist proposal? She's off her rocker meds or whatever it is. I don't know what it is.
TAFURI: We didn't know Trump -- what Trump was going to do. He's come out with a compromise that I think is reasonable. Some Democrats are not going to like it clearly, as you heard from Pelosi and other leaders. Some Republicans, hardline Republicans don't like it either.
The compromise that they reached is they're going to have a pathway for citizenship for Dreamers. That's important. In exchange, they're going to have a lot of money for the wall and border security. Some Democrats don't like that. But that's a reasonable thing for Democrats to give up in exchange for the Dreamers. Now, there are 803,000 Dreamers right now, as you pointed out, 1.8 million could get into this program, but they have to apply, so they're not all immediately going to become on the pathway to legal citizenship under this deal. They have to apply. But it is interesting that Trump has extended, almost expanded the ability of people in the Dreamer program. That was unexpected. But this is the trade-off. Democrats aren't going to like that. I'm saying this. But I think it's a good deal.
INGRAHAM: And I think that it's probably the best deal that they can put forth to get the votes that they need. To get those 60 votes. I mean, like it or not, that's probably the only thing they're going to get 60 votes for them and I bet they've been doing the numbers. But for Nancy Pelosi to call it basically white supremacist, you just lose all credibility on that completely.
Jason, before I let you go, up or down, will this then be acceptable to the House of Representatives?
CHAFFETZ: I think it might pass, because you probably get all of the Democrats if they unite and get behind it, then you get the squishy middle and they get to the numbers they need.
INGRAHAM: So Trump delivers amnesty to almost two million people. Wow. Gentlemen, thank you so much.
And up next, a new, exclusive look at the all-out war between the president and media. Fox News, Howie Kurtz is here to give us a preview of his new book, share some new revelations. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: A new book on the Trump presidency is unlike anything you've seen before. Here's what the author wrote, a few days ago in the Hollywood Reporter. "Donald Trump is taking his presidency as he did his election, on nothing less than destroying the credibility of the news media and the media are determined to do the same to him. Only one side can achieve victory, to a stunning degree, the press is falling into the president's trap."
We're delighted to welcome the writer of that piece, Howie Kurtz, the host of "MediaBuzz" on Fox News and the author of a soon to be huge New York Times, "Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War Over the Truth."
Howie, there's so many nuggets in here we've got to get to and I love your piece of the Hollywood Reporter. I found this element from John Martin, Jonathan Martin from the New York Times that you captured in your book to be stunning. "Weeks before the convention, an RNC staff member called Martin one night to challenge one of his stories. The reporter shot back, you're a racist and a fascist. Donald Trump is a racist and a fascist. We all know it and you're complicit. By supporting him, you're all culpable. Spicer called the top Times editor and unloaded about Jonathan Martin's behavior. Half an hour later, Martin called Spicer and demanded, how dare you go behind my back. What are you doing calling one of my editors? Excuse me, Spicer replied, you call one of my people and say this and I don't have the right to complain?" Jonathan Martin is one of the top writers at the New York Times.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "MEDIABUZZ": Yes. He's a good reporter but I have four sources with first you know, including the RNC staffer that had this conversation. There's actually two conversations, had confirmed this for me and obviously -- Jonathan Martin is disputing it since the book came out. He says he can't imagine saying such a thing. But Spicer, Sean Spicer went on the radio show today and confirmed on the record that my account is accurate.
INGRAHAM: Well, he is not only such an important reporter for the New York Times but his accounts of the campaign are then repeated and taken by other reporters and run with. So, when he's reporting on a candidate like Trump, and now the presidency, he thinks Trump is a racist and a fascist. You must have a desire to remove a racist and a fascist from office.
KURTZ: I have a lot of exclusive reporting on this book about -- what other journalists say about the president on Twitter when they think they only got their friends who are kind of following. And I think that one of the problems here, look, there's been a lot of illegitimate stories about the president and sometimes the president creates his own distractions, but I think that too many people and journalists now think it's their job to save the country from Donald Trump. And that's not journalism, that's advocacy.
INGRAHAM: It's crusading. And if you're pundit or you're a radio host and you don't want to -- take the chart, take the hill, but it's disconcerting. And the public view of the press today, Howie, where is it today versus 10 years ago? Has it declined?
KURTZ: It's dramatically declined and it's dramatically declined even further, since Donald Trump was a candidate and now president, because of people who support this president. A big chunk of the country feel that when --
INGRAHAM: Forty-five percent now.
KURTZ: When the mainstream media attacks him, they also feel like the mainstream media treat them with disdain. And then so -- what no one has understood is that negative coverage of Donald Trump, campaign and as president actually helps him because he controls the news agenda, because we love to write about ourselves and because it strikes a nerve with his supporters.
INGRAHAM: Yesterday when he left for Davos, when he -- it remind of your book, because Maggie Haberman says something about testifying under oath and he said, who said that? And I think it was Maggie Haberman in the back. And he said, "Do you know if Hillary testified under oath? Was she questioned under oath? Well, I don't know. You don't know? Like he -- it's like a bar fight with him with the member of the press. But is that always smart?
KURTZ: It's often smart that he is his own spokesman, even though he talks in a street language. It's not always smart to attack journalists individually, because I think it creates distractions, but I think there's damage on both sides.
INGRAHAM: You got to read by this book to read about Steve Bannon. What he warned about regarding impeachment. Phenomenal. Howie Kurtz.
And we have great news for American workers caused by the tax cuts and more, next.
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INGRAHAM: Another week, another round of companies with unbelievable news for employees and it's all due to the Trump tax cuts. Today, Home Depot announced bonuses up to $1,000 for all of its hourly employees based on length of service. Yesterday, liberal Starbucks had to announce other great news. They said bonuses ranging from $500-$2000. The company will also spend a total of $250 million on pay hikes and increased benefits. Great news. And the day before, Mickey Mouse said it will spend $125 million on $1,000 bonuses to its 125,000 U.S.-based employees. That's a lot of fun in the land of fun. And J.P. Morgan Chase announced raises for 22,000 workers plus a $750 bonus for workers as well, as well as savings of $750 a year for health insurance costs. This is what Ms. Positivity Debbie Wassermann Schultz thought about it all.
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REP. DEBBIE WASSERMANN-SCHULTZ, D-FLA.: I'm not sure that $1,000 which is taxed, taxable goes very far.
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INGRAHAM: First of all, if you could hear that, Starbucks just announced $2,000 bonuses. So she's wrong on that. Secondly, the pay raises and bonuses total in the billions of dollars benefiting three million American workers and counting, Debbie, that's according to Americans for Tax Reform. I say this to DSW. If you put the American worker first, not your party, you won't have to be such a sourpuss. Stay with us, we'll be right back and we're very, very positive.
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INGRAHAM: OK. Before we go, I want to hear what you think about President Trump's new immigration plan. 1.8 million undocumented illegal immigrants get a pathway to citizenship, end the chain migration, full funding for the wall, and the visa lottery, kind of. So tweet me, @IngrahamAngle and react to the Vicente Fox interview, as well. We'll be doing more of that tomorrow night.
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