Month: July 2018

HLN Carol Costello Trump Cohen Tape

Posted in Crime & Punishment, Media, PoliticsTagged , , , , , , , ,

I joined HLN TV‘s Across America with Carol Costello on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.

We discussed the leaked Michael Cohen tape where Donald Trump talked about a cash payment for hushing Karen McDougal.

What about Due Process Carrie Sheffield? I explain.

Further, Due Process is the right to be heard and have redress when the government threatens one’s life, liberty, or property.

TRUMP: [In background] Good. Let me know what’s happening, okay? Oh, oh. Maybe because of this it would be better if you didn’t go, you know? Maybe because of this. For that one, you know — I think what you should do is get rid of this. Because it’s so false what they’re saying, it’s such bulls—. Um. [PAUSE] I think, I think this goes away quickly. I think what — I think it’s probably better to do the Charleston thing, just this time. Uh, yeah. In two weeks, it’s fine. I think right now it’s, it’s better. You know? Okay, hun. You take care of yourself. Thanks, [Unintelligible]. Yup, I’m proud of you. So long. Bye.

[Into phone] What’s happening?

COHEN: Great poll, by the way.

TRUMP: Yeah?

COHEN: Seen it. Great poll.

TRUMP: Making progress.

COHEN: Big time.

TRUMP: And, your guy is a good guy. He’s a good —

COHEN: Who, Pastor Scott?

TRUMP: Can’t believe this. No, Pastor Scott. What’s, what’s happening —

COHEN: No —

TRUMP: Can we use him anymore?

COHEN: Oh, yeah, a hundred — no, you’re talking about Mark Burns. He’s, we’ve told him to [UNINTELLIGIBLE].

TRUMP: I don’t need that — Mark Burns, are we using him?

COHEN: No, no.

FEMALE: Richard [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. I’m sorry, Richard [UNINTELLIGIBLE] just called. He — just when you have a chance, he had an idea for you.

TRUMP: Okay, great.

COHEN: Um, so, we got served from the New York Times. I told you this — we were …

TRUMP: To what?

COHEN: … To unseal the divorce papers with Ivana. Um, we’re fighting it. Um, [Trump attorney Marc] Kasowitz is going to —

TRUMP: They should never be able to get that done.

COHEN: Never. Never. Kasowitz doesn’t think they’ll ever be able to. They don’t have a —

TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please!

COHEN: They don’t have a legitimate purpose, so —

TRUMP: And you have a woman that doesn’t want ’em unsealed.

COHEN: Correct.

TRUMP: Who you’ve been handling.

COHEN: Yes. And —

TRUMP: And it’s been going on for a while.

COHEN: About two, three weeks now.

TRUMP: All you’ve got to do is delay for —

COHEN: Even after that, it’s not going to ever be opened. There’s no, there’s no purpose for it. Um, told you about Charleston. Um, I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David, you know, so that — I’m going to do that right away. I’ve actually come up and I’ve spoken —

TRUMP: Give it to me and [UNINTELLIGIBLE].

COHEN: And, I’ve spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with …

TRUMP: So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?

COHEN: … funding. Yes. Um, and it’s all the stuff.

TRUMP: Yeah, I was thinking about that.

COHEN: All the stuff. Because — here, you never know where that company — you never know what he’s —

TRUMP: Maybe he gets hit by a truck.

COHEN: Correct. So, I’m all over that. And, I spoke to Allen about it, when it comes time for the financing, which will be —

TRUMP: Wait a sec, what financing?

COHEN: Well, I’ll have to pay him something.

TRUMP: [UNINTELLIGIBLE] pay with cash …

COHEN: No, no, no, no, no. I got it.

TRUMP: … check.

[Tape cuts off abruptly. Separate recording begins.]

MALE: Hey Don, how are you?

FNC Tucker Carlson Immigrant Local Voting

Posted in Life, Media, PoliticsTagged , , , , , ,

Tucker Carlson kindly invited me back on his Fox News Channel show, Friday, July 20, 2018.

Our topic was San Francisco allowing all residents, regardless of immigration status to vote this November in local school board elections.

According to the elections department, non-citizen voting materials are required to have a notice letting the voter know that any information provided to the department may be obtained by the federal government. 

The ordinance will permit non-citizen voting for the Board of Education elections from November of this year through Nov. 2022. After that, the ordinance will expire and supervisors must vote on whether to adopt an ordinance to continue it. 

To be eligible, a non-citizen voter must be a San Francisco resident, 18 years or older and be a parent, legal guardian or caregiver to a child under the age of 19.

Boston is also considering allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections.

The City Council’s Committee on Government Operations is set to have a hearing on Tuesday to discuss the idea of non-U.S. citizens voting in municipal elections.

The council is looking at ways to make city elections more inclusive, such as allowing foreign-born residents with legal status to vote.

According to a 2015 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants make up 28.5% of the city’s population, or roughly 190,000 people. Boston’s immigrants also paid $116 million in state and local taxes, and spent around $3.4 billion according to a 2015 “Boston by the Numbers” report.

Immigrants with legal status in Boston include legal permanent residents, visa holders and those on temporary protected status or deferred action for childhood arrivals. 

Studies show kids have far better educational outcomes when parents are involved.

School and parent/family/community partnerships are associated with positive effects on student outcomes, e.g., higher levels of achievement as measured by standardized test scores; factual, conceptual, critical, and attitudinal aspects of learning

Finally, few people vote in local elections.

voter turnout across neighborhoods corresponds with the distribution of race and income, with whiter and wealthier neighborhoods …showing high turnout

Watch the full segment here:

HLN Across America Trump Putin Helsinki

Posted in Media, PoliticsTagged , , , , , , ,

Susan Hendricks filled in for Carol Costello today on HLN Across America. I joined Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer of South Carolina to discuss the while-we-were-on-air unfolding press conference with President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

I didn’t mince words about the shameful state of the Republican party and their support of this president.

Remember:

  • The press conference followed a two hour one-on-one meeting between the two presidents and a working lunch with their aides.
  • In the press conference, Trump did not criticize Putin or the cyber-attacks that the US intelligence community says he coordinated to help Trump’s 2016 election campaign. “I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said.
  • Putin denied meddling and said Russia “doesn’t plan” to interfere in US domestic politics.
  • Putin presented Trump with a football from the World Cup. Trump said he would give it to his son, Baron. Republican senator Lindsay Graham, however, warned this could be a bad idea. “I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the White House,” Putin said.

Per The Guardian.

Watch the full segment:

FNC Tucker Carlson Democrats Statue of Liberty Protest

Posted in Crime & Punishment, Media, PoliticsTagged , , , , , , ,

Tucker Carlson had me back on his eponymous Fox News Channel show Thursday, July 5, 2018. We discussed what he sees as Democrats using immigrants as voting pawns, much to his chagrin.

From Politico:

The list of those changes is dizzying. Grant statehood to D.C. and Puerto Rico, and break California in seven, with the goal of adding 16 new Democrats to the Senate. Expand the Supreme Court and the federal courts, packing them with liberal judges. Move to multi-member House districts to roll back the effects of partisan gerrymandering. Pass a new Voting Rights Act, including nationwide automatic voter registration, felon enfranchisement and an end to voter ID laws. Grant citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrants, creating a host of new Democratic-leaning voters: “Republicans have always feared that immigration would change the character of American society. Democrats should reward them with their very worst nightmare.”

Plus I defended Congolese immigrant Therese Patricia Okoumou who protested on the Statue of Liberty July 4th. She is participating in our Democracy under her First Amendment rights, why get so upset?

From the New York Post:

Cops say Therese Patricia Okoumou — a 44-year-old immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo — was the person responsible for the Fourth of July protest.

Sources said Okoumou told investigators she climbed up to the feet of Lady Liberty to protest President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigration and the separation of families at the border.

Here is the segment:

FNC Shannon Bream Michael Cohen

Posted in Media, PoliticsTagged , , ,

I joined Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream and the Washington Times Charles Hurt on Monday, July 2, 2018.

Our topic was the latest on Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen and whether he will flip based upon the interview he gave to ABC News’ George Stephanopolous:

But in his first in-depth interview since the FBI raided his office and homes in April, Cohen strongly signaled his willingness to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York — even if that puts President Trump in jeopardy.

“My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Cohen told me. “I put family and country first.”

We spoke for 45 minutes Saturday evening at a Manhattan hotel, where Cohen has been staying for the past several months. And during that time, the question of whether Cohen might flip on the president has been the subject of intense speculation.

Here is the full segment:

HLN Carol Costello Abolish ICE

Posted in Media, PoliticsTagged , , , ,

I joined HLN‘s Across America with Carol Costello on Monday, July 2, 2018. CNN commentator and Republican strategist Alice Stewart joined as well.

Our political topic was the new movement on the left to Abolish ICE. Are they going too far or is this right to call to abolish ICE and reform in the face of the Trump onslaught against both illegal and legal immigration?

From CNN:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley of New York in the primary last week, ran on a platform of abolishing the agency, and so far, more lawmakers have echoed her call.

The issue comes after the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, which referred all people who cross the border illegally for criminal prosecution on top of immigration proceedings.
As a result of enforcing that policy, parents and children who cross illegally are separated because the parents are put into the criminal justice system.
But last month, Trump reversed course and signed an executive order to keep families together.
Customs and Border Protection and ICE serve different functions. CBP enforces immigration laws on the US borders and ICE enforces immigration laws throughout the country.

Here is the full segment: