Can Obama/Congress Agree on Immigration Crisis Solutions?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There has to be a halt to this. That's what we want. And the best way to do is for plane loads of these young people to be returning to the country of origin. We cannot have an unending flow of children from all over the world, much less Central America, into our country.</s>REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: And I say we are the strongest, wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world, and children are coming to our borders, we should protect them. Now, I will say this, follow the law, and the law said that we must put the children's interests first, which is what President Obama is doing.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama wants Congress to approve his $3.7 billion request emergency funding to deal with this issue, but judging from what we're hearing, a deal does not seem imminent.</s>MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to bring in our political commentators, Ana Navarro and Maria Cardona. Such a delight to have you both with us.</s>PEREIRA: It seems as though we're at a gridlock. We're at a standstill. Is there a chance -- I want to ask you both, and I'll start with you -- is there a chance that the two sides can agree on something substantive here?</s>MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There's got to be a chance. There's always a chance, so I'm going to be hopeful because this is about children, this is about our most precious resource that we have. We need to take care of them in a humanitarian way but we need to make sure that it doesn't continue to be a magnet, so Republicans and Democrats and this president need to come together to figure out how we do that, to focus on the solutions. The president is asking for the resources to do all of that. To take care of these kids in a humanitarian manner, these kids who need asylum, can stay. Those who can go back and reunited with their families, we need do that quickly, without trampling on their rights. Maybe we look at temporary protected status here, which is something we gave refugees from a hurricane. We need to think outside the box, try to find ways to come together on this.</s>ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I see no chance for temporary protective status. I think, I think, they have finally gotten their arms around what the entire problem is, the fact there's push factors from Central America and pull factors here in the United States, and it's all being taken advantage of unscrupulous rings of human smugglers that are misrepresenting the policies to these parents of Central America, making them believe that when they get here, their kids will have some kind of legal resource, which does not exist. As far as the appropriation request, they got to go through it. They are not going to give any precedent, just a blank check, and they have got to really prioritize. There is a working group that have been formed of Congress people. They went down to Central America for two days. I think it's important that they go to the border, they go to the shelters, they speak to those governments. Because we can't start sending them back. What are we sending them back to? That's part of what started the problem. The problem is it's happening quickly. Congress is going to recess in a couple of weeks. So they've got to --</s>BERMAN: Ana, I do want to ask you. You were born in Nicaragua. Everyone refers them to as undocumented immigrants. People are saying we should be calling them refugees.</s>NAVARRO: This is a hard problem for me. I understand these kids and parents are being attending advantage of it. I come from a small town there. It's the second poorest country in the hemisphere. I'm very familiar with the conditions, the kind of violence that exists there, the gangs that exists there. I know people, I know people who are in the United States today who left their kids with a grandmother or an aunt and haven't seen them in ten years and are desperate to see those kids. So it's a desperation that, for many of us in this country, it's very hard to understand. I understand it, because I've lived it, and it gives you a sense of compassion. But I also know that these kids are being taken advantage of by human smugglers. I know that U.S. policy is being misrepresented. I know we can't have a free flow of kids, but what I think we need to do is give them a fair day in court, those that have a strong case to be able to stay here may be able to do so, and can do so, and we have to stop the flow.</s>PEREIRA: It's a very -- I know it's a very challenging one for all of us, really.</s>NAVARRO: I have talked to Congress people, Republican Congress people. I have talked to Democrats, and the White House, who have gone to these shelters and talked to the kids, asked them, why are you coming. I've seen the pictures. It's heart-wrenching.</s>CARDONA: I've talk to these kids and families and they say if they go back, they will be killed, and to be a mother, to send your child, as a mother of two young children, and as an immigrant myself from Latin America, there but for the grace of God go I. I mean, these are things that we really need to keep into consideration and at the same time find solutions so that they don't keep coming, this is not a magnet. Focus on the smugglers, on the violence.</s>BERMAN: We need to do something.</s>PEREIRA: We're going to ask you both to stick around. We have another topic we want to bring up with you. A war of words, Attorney General Eric Holder slamming Sarah Palin, who is calling for President Obama to be impeached.</s>BERMAN: Then, she is being hailed as a hero. An unbelievably brave Texas teen the lone survivor of a family massacre. She speaks out. We'll have that next.