The Ed Show for Wednesday, July 16th, 2014

THE ED SHOW
July 16, 2014

Guest: Bernard Sanders


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from New York, I`m ready to go, let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: This is problem of the
President`s own making.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stupid liberals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A terrible humanitarian crisis involving vulnerable
children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America`s immigration crisis kid`s edition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republicans in the House and in the Senate are trying
to milk this.

BOEHNER: Oh no, that`s sounds too hard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But as much of a political advantage as a camp (ph).

BARACK OBAMA, CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Ask
legislation fixing our broken immigration system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President`s hands are so much high.

OBAMA: I ask legislation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a disaster that is the direct consequence of
President Obama`s lawless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rule of law has been undermined by the President
himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President has senioritis (ph).

OBAMA: Why aren`t we passing comprehensive immigration reform.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not that difficult, child.

BOEHNER: This is too hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks, thanks for watching. We
are waiting for President Obama. He is going to speak in about 15 minutes
in the briefing room in Washington. We will bring that to you live when it
happens.

But first, we start with what a lot of people thing is the biggest problem
for this country of this summer, the border crisis. Let`s get to the root
of it all.

The southern border has seen waves of undocumented Central American
children crossing the border. We`ll get to how they are getting here in a
moment. But on the border, what we are seeing in America is scenes of hate
playing out against young kids.

Angry protesters yelling at children to get the hell out of the United
States of America. What happening in Washington? Nothing, nothing. John
Boehner has proven once again that he has no control over his free (ph)
Republican House.

It`s all blame game on Obama. There is no good solution for Republicans.
And all Boehner can do is try to pin all the mess on the President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: This is a problem of the President`s own making. He`s been
president of five and half years, when`s he going to take responsibility
for something?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Take responsibility for something. Totally put this entire
scenario that`s playing out on the shoulders of the President of the United
States. Wrong again Boehner.

President Obama tried to get Congress to act on immigration reform which
would have dealt with these children. Boehner, to his credit has even
tried to do something to get something done on immigration. But of course
the House Speaker has even gone out and he`s mocked his caucus on the
issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: I don`t know whether we`re going to get to it this year or not.
I think we should, but the appetite, the appetite amongst my colleagues for
doing this is not real good. And this guy`s back here with a camera, but
here`s the attitude, oh don`t me do this.

Oh no, this is too hard. You should hear him. You know, we get elected to
make choices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, we certainly do. You do get elected to make choices. And
the choice is that you don`t want to do anything about it, you just want to
blame everything on the President. John Boehner chose to abandon
immigration reform.

It`s absurd for Boehner to blame the President and this immigration problem
on him but, here`s what we don`t hear elected officials talking about. And
I think something the mainstream media has missed. The facts.

The reason these children are allowed to stay is because there was law
passed in 2008. How many of you heard of the William-Wilberforce
trafficking victim`s protection act of 2008?

Now, I know that`s a mouthful, but it all started with this guy. And he
had help from the Democrats to get this done. This is a picture of
President George W. Bush signing the law in December of 2008.

What this law does, is the law protects children from countries who don`t
share a border with the United States. Now think about that, it`s not kids
from Mexico, its kids from Central America, Nicaragua, Columbia -- this is
where these kids are coming from. The law requires, the law, the United
States law requires minors to be given an opportunity to appear in an
immigration hearing.

It`s all about protecting kids. That`s what this is. So, when these kids
come in the United States, they`re underage, they`re adolescent, even
younger than that. There is a law on the books signed by President Bush,
helped by the Democrats and then Republicans to get these all done -- it
was bipartisan, to protect kids to give them a process.

Well, we`ve gone so radical in America we want to break the law. The law
technically applies only to unaccompanied minors. Minors that get to
America unaccompanied, what are we going to do with them?

Well, they got to have an immigration hearing. That`s the law, it was
signed. So, when Republicans are out there blaming President Obama on all
of these. Hold the phone, it does not provide automatic asylum.

So, if the kids get there, they`re here for good. No, that`s not it. It
just lets children stay here while their cases work through the immigration
system. But now, thanks to the flood of immigrants, the system is severely
backlogged. And on Tuesday, Congressman Raul Grijalva on this program
said, the Congressional Hispanic caucus will stand behind this law that`s
been passed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA, (D) ARIZONA: The solution is simple, follow the law.
Extend the protections that are within that law that was passed in Congress
in 2008. The court decisions that have occurred that further protected
children, and do so in a way that honors due process.

I think the President needs to be firm. CHC, the Hispanic Caucus is going
to be firm and protect these children because after all they`re children,
and there`s a moral and legal imperative that we do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Some House Democrats are concerned because President Obama wants
to speed up the deportation process, because he`s getting a lot heat from
the Republicans. But unlike Republicans, the President does have a plan
and it cost money. The President is asking for $3.7 billion in emergency
funding.

Half of the money would provide care for children. The other half would
speed up deportation hearings and increase border security. I thought the
Republicans wanted that.

John Boehner said, Republicans will scrub the President`s proposal and have
a border bill by the end of the week. Yeah right. You know why? Because
he`s seeing the numbers.

53 percent of Americans support the President`s plan while 43 percent
oppose it. Overall, 58 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the
President of the United States is handling the border crisis, but it`s not
pretty for House Republicans either.

66 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the Congressional Republicans
are handling the situation on the borders. So, we got no winners anywhere
right?

Boehner is aware this mess, again is hurting the Republicans. He knows in
action and gridlock in the House again is causing another major crisis.
So, what does he do?

Just grab the big anvil there and be old gallows (ph) and just let the
President have it, anytime he can. No, it`s not President Obama`s fault,
he inherited this one. He inherited this law that said, we have to have
process for these kids who get to the United States, and it cost money to
do.

And now, there`s a flood of them coming in, no doubt about it. But they`re
coming here because of the unrest in countries in Central America, and so
what do they want to do? Just play politics and pin it on the President?
No, change the law, if you don`t like the law Mr. Boehner, just go ahead
and change it.

You certainly have the votes in the House to do it. And these people who
are out there protesting and getting in front of these kids and playing
Wild Bill Hickok and making treats, that`s not going to solve anything but
inflame the emotions in all the wrong directions.

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, "Should the 2008 Wilberforce trafficking victims protection act
be protected?"

Text A for Yes, Text B No to 67622. You can always go to our blog at
ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring in the results later on in the show.

For more let me bring in Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Senator, good to have you with us tonight, we always get a straight answer
out of you. Do you think the 2008 victims trafficking act should be
reformed, reversed, repealed, what do we do here Senator?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D) VERMONT: No, I think it`s a good law. As you
mentioned it was passed by George W. Bush. The goal of that law is to
protect children from sexual trafficking.

And that is something that we in fact should do. So what the law says of
kids who are coming from faraway countries, not Mexico and not Canada.
They have the right to get a hearing, to see if they are being really
exploited sexually or otherwise.

And if so, we can make a decision about what we do with them then. Right
now, you know, I know it`s easy to blame everything on the President. The
reality is, I think he`s thinking people understand. What you have is a
disaster in countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador.

You have gangs, violent gangs killing children in those countries. And
parents are sending their kids, where their kids are leaving this violence
thinking they have a better shot going thousands of miles away from their
home by themselves or being, you know, escorted by coyote types (ph) than
staying -- now, think about that for moment.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: So what you got is a disaster back there. And we have not an
immigration issue Ed. We have a refugee crisis, it is moral issue. What
do you do when desperate children go huge amounts of distance away from
their homes because they`re afraid of getting killed where they live?

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: What do we do? Do you simply shove them back to where they came
from? I don`t think that`s what America is supposed to be about.

SCHULTZ: So Senator, do we have to pay attention on what`s happening in
other countries that`s created this industry of child smuggling?

SANDERS: Oh, I certainly think we do. I certainly think we do. And by
the way, people said, "Oh this is a problem here in the United States, it`s
Obama`s fault. Do you know what`s going on in Nicaragua? What`s going on
the Panama? It`s the same issue. People leaving Honduras going though
those countries.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: So, the answer is, how do we work to prevent this crisis in
Honduras so that parents can keep their children safety at home?

SCHULTZ: Do you believe this is a good first step? The president wants
$3.7 billion for an emergency fix?

SANDERS: You know, whether it`s 3.7 or 3.2 or 4.1 I don`t know. But
clearly what we have to do is make sure that children who are on our border
are housed in humane ways, not such in dangerous ways, unhealthy ways, into
rooms -- overcrowded rooms. So yes, I think what the president is doing is
a movement in the right direction.

SCHULTZ: And Senator, the polling on this shows that the American people
do want to address this. If Congress had passed comprehensive immigration
reform, would it have dealt with this issue?

SANDERS: I think perhaps, to some degree it would have. But Ed, let`s be
clearer, you know, I think there are aspects of the immigration reform that
would not have dealt with this issue. This is a country like Honduras
holding a pot, being run by drug cartels, being run in areas by murderers,
children fleeing.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: It`s not an immigration issue. This is a refugee issue, of
parents and kids prepared to do anything to flee that violence.

SCHULTZ: And we`re seeing political games over this.

SANDERS: And that is really pretty pathetic.

SCHULTZ: OK. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont. Good to have you with us
tonight. Thanks so much for your time sir. We are waiting for President
Obama to speak from the briefing in just a few moments.

Keep it right here. We`re right back on the ED Show on MSNBC.

(COMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the ED Show. Breaking news out of the White
House, President Obama is about to speak about the latest developments in
the Ukraine. Senior U.S. Officials announced today, the administration is
escalating the sanctions on Russia for not meeting in commitments to de-
escalate in the region.

The White House said it was coordinating with European allies but so far,
Europe is taking less stringent steps against Russia. The President has
spoken in recent days with Prime Minister Cameron, President Allan (ph),
and also Chancellor Merkel of Germany. The President about to speak.

Let`s bring in Kristen Welker, White House correspondent for NBC news.
Kristen, good to have you with us tonight.

What sanctions, what actions are we expected to hear being implemented by
the President tonight? What`s the anticipation?

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ed, here`s the headline.
These are the toughest sanctions that the United States will have announce
against Russia yet. President Obama, when he comes into the briefing room
will announce that the U.S. is going to sanction large banks and some firms
in the energy and defend sectors. The U.S. also planning to sanction four
senior Russian officials.

So, these sanctions far broader than the sanctions that have been announce
in the past by the United States. The other point that you touched on Ed,
the EU also preparing to enact new sanctions. But they are not preparing
to go as far as the United States has gone. This has been a point of
contention between the United States and into European allies because these
sanctions don`t have the same type of bite if they aren`t backed up by the
United States European allies.

So, I anticipate you will hear President Obama speak to that -- leaders in
the EU meeting as we speak. And senior administration officials just held
the conference call about this. One senior administration official saying
that they don`t want to prejudge what specifically is going to come out of
Europe.

I can tell you that the Obama administration has been getting more and more
pressure Ed in recent days to take more action against Russia because it
has only escalated the crisis in Ukraine during hearing last week. Sen.
Bob Corker said this of the administration, he said, "Sometimes I`m
embarrass for you as you constantly talk about sanction and yet candidly we
never see them put in place".

So, that was the type of rhetoric that led up to this announcement. But
senior administration officials on that conference call Ed were very clear
the President feels as though Russia has made no attempt to de-escalate the
situation in Ukraine. And in fact has escalated it by further lending
support to the rebels who are creating the crisis there and the violence.

So, that is what I anticipate. We will hear from President Obama. I can
tell you that the Chamber of Commerce, not happy about this announcement.

They say, they are deeply concerned by the events in Ukraine and no way do
we condone Russia`s actions but we respectfully oppose legislative
proposals to impose unilateral economic sanctions on Russia. The concern
for some U.S. businesses is that ultimately these sanctions could cause
U.S. jobs. So, President Obama could touch on that point as well. Ed.

SCHULTZ: The options that the president has clearly, he could put some
troops in place but he is ruled that out.

WELKER: Right.

SCHULTZ: And he could also fund more money to the Ukraine government to
protect themselves. There are tremendous energy interest in the Ukraine
for Putin and Russia, especially the coal industry which is on the eastern
border of that country. So, your thoughts on that?

WELKER: It`s a great point Ed. And I would point out that these sanctions
that we have seen has been incremental, right? So, this is a third round
of sanctions the U.S. will have imposed against Russia. And to your point,
there is still room for more action.

When you speak with the administration officials about why they aren`t
sanctioning entire sectors? That is because they`ve want to be able to
increasingly put pressure on Russia. They are hoping to de-escalate this
situation.

As you said, President Obama has ruled out putting U.S. troops on the
ground. So they want to do this in an incremental way. These sanctions
again, the broadest, they will have the toughest bite of any round of
sanctions that we have seen so far. Ed.

SCHULTZ: What does this say about any kind of communication President
Obama and Vladimir Putin? Has that just totally broken down? Is this the
only thing that the Americans can do at this point that we could go further
in sanctions? Is this another toe in the lake, so to speak to see what
Putin does at this point?

WELKER: I think you`re right. We have seen the relationship between
President Obama, Vladimir Putin, between the U.S. and Russia become
increasingly icy in the past year. Not just over this crisis in Ukraine
Ed. As you well know, over Edward Snowden, over at the crisis in Syria, of
course the U.S. believes that Russia has been propping up Assad regime.

So, that has created a huge risk and I think you`re absolutely right, that
at this point clearly any diplomatic effort seen to be out of reach right
now for the United States and Russia. And by the way, President Obama, you
will know spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday and it was
during that conversation that these sanctions were discuss. But of course
that conversation came on the hills of new revelation about spying about
the U.S., spying on Germany.

So, that relationship has been increasingly estranged. The Senior
Administration Officials got a question about that. Did that make it more
difficult to get on the same page with the Germany about new sanction and
the administration of course downplayed the extend to which those recent
spying allegation to had any real impact on these sanctions that we`re
seeing impose today.

But certainly Ed, I think you`re right to point out the fact that relation
between the U.S. and Russia increasingly estranged. And so, this is what
we are seeing, these new round of sanctions and at this point it seems like
that is the only path that the U.S. sees to try to de-escalate that crisis
in Ukraine.

SCHULTZ: Well, the European Union certainly has big interest in Russia.

WELKER: Absolutely.

SCHULTZ: There`s no question about that. And they could be the go between
Russia and the United States to get some kind of a solution here to get the
Russians to back off. So, at this hour, it seems that the president isn`t
going to be able to move on anything unless he has the European Union with
him, and certainly Chancellor Merkel because of their economic strength in
Europe. It would seem to me that the President can`t come out and wing
this. He must be solid that he`s going to have the Europeans behind him

WELKER: That`s right. And I think Chancellor Merkel really is the
linchpin in so many ways because of the relationship between Germany and
Russia. And so, certainly he needs her to be on board, and that`s why that
conversation that took place yesterday was so important, was so pivotal.
And that is why the United States was deeply concerned after last week`s
revelations about new spying allegation between the U.S. and Germany.

So, certainly that is the crucial relationship for President Obama as he
moves forward, as he tries to pressure Russia to de-escalate the crisis in
Ukraine. And I anticipate you will hear him touch on that to some extent
if not, in his remark he could potentially get a question about it.

And Ed, I would also point out that there are a number of other foreign
policy issues that are oiling (ph) this administration right now, the
crisis in the Middle East, if President Obama does take questions and
that`s the big if. We`ve seen him take questions during his recent press
conferences that he`s had in recent weeks. If he does decide to take
questions you can anticipate he will get questions about the Middle East
and also Iran.

There was news today that the administration could be contemplating,
extending its negotiating period with Iran and -- what are referred to as
the P5 plus 1 partners and trying to get Iran to de-escalate its nuclear
program.

So, those are among the topics that I think we could hear President Obama
touch on when he comes to the briefing room. Ed.

SCHULTZ: Well, the deals between the Russians and the Iranians are very
well documented going back .

WELKER: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: . several decades. And certainly with Putin. No doubt about it.
Kristen Welker at the White House, stay with us. We want to bring in now
NBC news Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell. Andrea,
thanks for your time tonight. There`s a lot of dynamics that are playing
out right here.

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Sure Ed.

SCHULTZ: I mean there`s a lot bubbling in the world right now. What about
the timing of this? Your insight to what the president is about to do?

MITCHELL: Well, they`ve been very concern about the flow of Russian arms
into Eastern Ukraine, that instead of de-escalating, Russia has escalated
and there had been a number of conflicts that -- in fact Poroshenko, the
Ukrainian leader has tried separately to get the separatist into cease fire
and to political dialogue and that none of these has worked.

So, that the promise of whatever conversation took place on D-day at
Normandy with Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin there and all the European
leaders that did not bear fruit.

As a result, they had to announce this now -- the Europeans have just
announced their own steps. And we understand them to be -- we have to go
through them but they understand them to be not as tough stringent at all
as what the White House announced.

When we were on that conference call, the Kristen was just mentioning. The
White House officials and State Department and another officials who were
briefing us we`re saying that they do expect that the European steps will
have some bite, but that the dollar is what is dominant. And that the
banks and energy companies that are being sanction by the United States, by
the U.S Treasury will really have some weight because it is a dollar
economy that basically rules.

And that long-term medium and long-term investments, investment access to
loans beyond 90 days are now going to be cut off to these two major energy
companies and these two major banks. And in fact, we`ll have a lot in
play. Now, also the Europeans just -- also criticize Hamas for not
accepting the cease fire but said that -- and for continuing to rocket into
Israel, but also said that Israel`s response in self-defense should be
proportional. So, they also made a statement on that.

This is just a confluence as you pointed out and as Kristen has said. A
foreign policy crisis and the last thing they now need to cut off the
negotiations with Iran. So, I think you`re to say in the next 48 hours an
extension of that deadline of July 28th for the end of the first round of
talks with Iran claiming that they have made a big offer but Secretary
Kerry saying that in fact that there is significant gaps still to be
negotiated.

SCHULTZ: Well, there`s no doubt that, if these sanctions are what we
believe them to be from the United States, this is going to affect the
Russian economy much faster, I think than the American economy.

From the standpoint of the energy interest that are in the Ukraine and also
the access to energy that comes from the Middle East too -- Russia is so
vitally important to their economy.

The reaction of Vladimir Putin, is the President in a sense Andrea rolling
the dice here not knowing how Putin is going to react to this. And I think
volatile personalities may have come into play in the situation like this.
Your thoughts.

MITCHELL: It certainly that came up in the conversation with Angela
Merkel. And the strains in that relationship, the way that`s tries to
dismiss questions about the strains with Germany and they put out all these
nice statement saying, things are, you know, on an even keel and the
President addressed that with Chancellor Merkel. But my German sources
tell me that she was really angry, very angry that in fact there were not
one but two spy incidences allegations in the last week. And that the
President did not even know about it when he first talked to her a week ago
on Thursday.

So, you know, there`s been a lot of lack of communication. And the CIA and
other members of the Intelligence Committee are going to have to address
that. But the strains with Germany have certainly affected our ability to
coordinate and response .

SCHULTZ: Andrea, what role has Secretary Kerry played in all of these in
repositioning of resources of our military to prepare for something that we
certainly might want to be involved in. But United States has not -- we
have not stood idle -- have not been standing idle in all of these.

There have been some military repositioning of resources, what does that
mean?

MITCHELL: Well, Kerry has been coordinating that certainly with the
Defense Secretary and Susan Rice, The National Security Advisor. So that
is really a White House decisions but they clearly have reposition
resources to reassure Poland and other NATO Allies that is where American
and NATO interests lie.

We can say that we`re defending Ukraine, but Ukraine is not a member of
NATO and we`re not going to a military response. It`s going to be an
economic response, but if Vladimir Putin were to go further and take on
Polender any of those front-line states, that would be a completely
different issue.

Now, regarding the Middle East that is top of mine right now. And Kerry
has been calling all day, calling the Head of the Arab League, trying to
get some sort of cease fire in place. We know that late today Israel did
agree that as of tomorrow morning if we`ll do a six hour -- what they call
a humanitarian cease fire at the urging of Robert Serry, the United Nations
Representative there of the Middle East Negotiating Group, the European,
U.N, U.S and Russian Group that has been a constant on the ground there.

So, that is being offered -- Egypt was not listened to by Hamas because of
the breaking relationship between the new government in Egypt and Hamas,
their antagonist. So, Hamas is not -- as he did in 2012 of the previous
Muslim brotherhood Morsi-led government do not the heed the call for a
ceasefire. And that gave Israel some leverage internationally since Israel
did agree this ceasefire and was observing it until Hamas started rocketing
again in the Israel. But.

SCHULTZ: One of the anticipated responses from the Russians would be to
have the Iranians take more of an engaging position in the Middle East
because of the business deals that those two countries have. I think that
is a very scary dynamic. We really don`t know beyond this big energy deals
that the two countries have just how far that loyalty is going to go and
how aggressive the Iranians are willing to be in the turmoil that`s
unfolding in the Middle East.

Putin could play a role in motivating them to be a little bit more
aggressive, could he not?

MITCHELL: He could although Vladimir Putin does not want a nuclear armed
Iran on his border as well. So he has actually played a constructive role
or Russia has in the past in trying to negotiate ways to get the enriched
uranium out of Iran and have it reprocessed in Russia and then sold back to
Iran for peaceful medical use.

I mean, there`s actually been a pretty good relationship there with Russia
as part of this negotiating strategy.

That said, Iran -- there`s the good Iran and the bad Iran. The other Iran
is rearming Assad, propping up Assad in the war in Syria. And according to
Israel and according to the U.S providing the smuggled long range missiles
to Gaza that have now been targeting major population centers throughout
Israel not just in the immediate environment or in immediate region of
Gaza.

SCHULTZ: You`re watching the Ed Show on MSNBC. President Obama is about
to speak from the briefing room.

Kristen Welker and Andrea Mitchell with me here. In this hour, the
President expected to announce sanctions against Russia both in the banking
industry that would affect energy and defense which of course is a quite a
wide swap when it comes to the economy and ramifications of the economy in
Europe and with the United States.

So the question that I think the President has to reaffirm to the American
people tonight is exactly what does this mean militarily, what does mean
for our economy and what are we prepared to do when it comes to energy
decisions in this country. I would assume the President isn`t going to do
something like this unless he is on solid ground with allies because of the
repel effect that it could have in the economy.

This is all happening in the very interesting time when the markets are
scratching new highs in America when we are producing more energy than we
ever have. And now, the President in a very bold manner going to put
forward some sanctions on Russia for them not de-escalating the situation
in the Ukraine fast enough.

Our allies -- I would imagine that the polls are very nervous tonight
wondering what this is going to mean and just how loyal is the United
States to Poland and that is going to be tested in this dynamic. There is
no question about that.

And then of course Andrea and I we`re just mentioning the dynamic to place
out with the Iranians.

We will be right back here on MSNBC, the President speak momentarily from
the briefing room of foreign policy. Watch the Ed Show on MSNBC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. We`re waiting President Obama`s
statement on Ukraine. Let`s bring back NBC News White House Correspondent,
Kristen Welker.

Kirsten, sanctions expected to be announced tonight on the banking industry
that deals with energy and defense because Russia has not deescalated the
situations. So this is going to be a very aggressive move by the
President. He will announce that and understand that he will take other
questions.

I don`t know how we could not get a question on immigration. This, of
course, has been a real sticking point with the Republicans because they
are blaming the President for this crisis of children coming into this
country.

What is the White House`s position right now on trying to get this 3.7
billion to address this human crisis that`s unfolding in immigration?

WELKER: Well, of course the White House is arguing to Republicans. If
you`re going to criticize the administration for all of these undocumented
children coming over at least take some steps to deal with this crisis.

So, as you point out the administration asking Congress to approve $3.7
billion to deal with the crisis. Part of that would be to increase the
number of deportation judges who can hear some of these cases, who can deal
with the backlog that are currently exists of this unaccompanied minors.

So, the administration really trying to pressured Congress to get something
done on that front. At the same time they`re launching this campaign, Ed,
to Central American countries making parents there aware of the fact that
if their children come across the border, they won`t necessarily be allowed
to stay and that they couldn`t risk their lives trying to come here only to
be turned back.

Now, the other central piece of this, Ed, is that the administration would
like broader authority to be able to deport some of these children more
quickly. We know that there is legislation that is being discussed that
would train the 2008 law that was signed by President George W. Bush which
essentially said that the kids who were coming over from Central America
can`t be immediately deported. It was an anti-trafficking measure when
initially pass but it pertains to this situation.

So there is an effort underway to get that law amended which would give the
President, the administration more leverage and more room to more quickly
deport some of those unaccompanied minors. And it`s interesting
politically for the President because his getting a lot of pressure from
some Democrats, from advocates of those groups of those children who were
coming over, who were saying, this is the wrong move that we shouldn`t be
deporting them more quickly that they`re essentially refugees that the U.S
needs to help these kids.

So the question is, how does the administration strike that balance between
treating all of these kids who are coming over humanely and at the same
time dealing with the fact that they are coming into the communities that
simply do not want them.

So this is certainly on the domestic front the crisis that is dominating
this White House right now, Ed.

SCHULTZ: And striking that balance, Kristen, is very hard in Washington
right now. And you have a Congress that simply does not want to move on
immigration reform. Boehner can`t seem to get his radicals in the House to
do anything on it. They`re using it as a political football to beat up the
president it seems like.

The fact is that that law is on the books. And that is why these children
are being processed. They are unaccompanied refugees into this country.
We have a process to deal with them.

WELKER: Right.

SCHULTZ: But they are coming in, in such great numbers. We don`t have the
facilities, we don`t have the wherewithal, the resources to process these
kids fast enough. And so, the deportation pressure obviously is on right
now and these advocacy groups that you`re talking about should help the
president get the money that he needs to do what he has to do on a number
of fronts which of course would deal with border security which would go
after these smugglers which would also get the word out to the parents and
these countries where kids are coming from. And it just seems like there`s
no solution here because of the in action in Washington at this point.

WELKER: Well, and there`re certainly no easy solution. That`s for sure,
Ed. And I think that one of the ideas that is being discussed behind the
scenes on Capitol Hill behind closed doors is potentially coming up with a
compromised measure. So in other words, you might not see that full $3.7
billion dollars approved but you might see a smaller figure somewhere in
the range of $2 billion to $2.7 billion.

That is one of the ideas being discussed because of course you`ve heard a
number of lawmakers take issue with that figure, that $3.7 billion figure.
But you`re right to point out that Democrats -- this White House say,
"Well, look, part of the problem is that we never got an immigration reform
bill packed in the first place which would have beat up border security
among other things to potentially prevent the type of flow of unaccompanied
children that we are seeing right now.

So those are among the discussions. Is there any hope for a broader
immigration reform package (ph) getting passed, Ed? I don`t think so.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WELKER: However, could this crisis renew the debate and the discussion
over getting some smaller measures packed (ph)? That is a possibility.
But of course, the Senate did pass a broad piece of legislation that dealt
with immigration and as you point out it`s sold in the House. So that is
where that debate stands. And it only gets tougher on immigration reform
given that we`re just a few months out from the 2014 midterm. Ed?

SCHULTZ: OK. Kristen Welker at the White House. Stay with us. President
Obama is expected to speak any moment now. We have been given the two-
minute warning just a moment ago. He is expected to announce new sanctions
on Russia with the help of European allies that will affect the banking
industry which will definitely impact energy and defense. Those are the
two areas that are going to be targeted the most in these sanctions.

Senior U.S. officials announcing today that the administration is
escalating the sanctions on Russia for not meeting it`s commitments to de-
escalate. So the White House said that it was coordinating with European
allies. But as Andrea Mitchell brought up to us just moments ago, we`re
not sure how far the Europeans, the Germans especially, Chancellor Merkel
are willing to go just how stringent these steps are going to be in forcing
economic sanctions on Vladimir Putin and the Russians and of course what is
there reaction going to be.

I think personality plays into this. I don`t think we`re going to have to
wait till tomorrow morning to find out exactly what Vladimir Putin is going
to do. Here is the President at the White House.

PRES. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I`ll briefly discuss
the important actions we`re taking today and support Ukraine. Before I do,
I want to take a few minutes to update to update the American people on
some present foreign policy challenges that are reviewed with Secretary
Kerry this afternoon.

First of all, I thank Secretary Kerry and our outstanding civilian and
military leaders in Afghanistan for their success in helping to break the
impasse over the presidential election there. Thanks to their efforts.
And of course, thanks to the Afghans and the courage of the two candidates
both of whom I spoke to last week. The candidates have agreed to abide by
the results of a comprehensive and internationally supervised audit that
will review all the ballots and to form a unity government.

If they keep their commitments, Afghanistan will witness the first
democratic transfer of power in the history of that nation. The progress
will honor both candidates who will put the interest of a united
Afghanistan first the millions of Afghans who defied threats in order to
vote and the service of our troops and civilians who`ve sacrificed so much.

This progress reminds us that even as our combat mission Afghanistan ends
this year, America`s commitment to a sovereign, united, and democratic
Afghanistan will endure along with our determination that Americans are
never again threatened by terrorists inside of Afghanistan.

Second, John updated me on the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear
program. Over the last six months, Iran has met it`s commitment under the
interim we reached last year halting the progress of it`s new program,
allowing more inspections, and rolling back it`s most dangerous stockpile
of nuclear material.

Meanwhile, we are working with our P5+1 partners and Iran to reach a
comprehensive agreement that assures us that Iran`s program will in fact be
peaceful and that they will not obtain a nuclear weapon. And based on
consultations with Secretary Kerry and my national security team, it`s
clear to me that we`ve made real progress in several areas and that we have
a credible way forward.

But as we approach a deadline of July 20th under the interim deal, there`s
still some significant gaps between the international community and Iran.
And we have more work to do. So over the next few days we`ll continue
consulting with Congress and our team will continue discussions with Iran
and our partners as we determine whether additional time is necessary to
extend our negotiations.

Third, we continue to support diplomatic efforts to end the violence
between Israel and Hamas. As I`ve said repeatedly, Israel has a right to
defend itself from rocket attacks that terrorize the Israeli people.
There`s no country on earth that can be expected to live under a daily
barrage of rockets. And I`m proud that that the iron dorm system that
Americans helped Israel to develop and fund has saved many Israeli lives.

But over the past two weeks, we`ve all been heart-broken by the violence
especially of the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in Gaza --
men, women, and children who were caught in the crossfire. That`s why we
have been working with our partners in the region to pursue a ceasefire to
protect civilians on both sides.

Now, yesterday, Israel did agree to a ceasefire. Unfortunately, Hamas
continued to fire rockets of civilians thereby prolonging the conflict.
But the Israeli people and the Palestinian people don`t want to live like
this. They deserve to live in peace and security for it can fear. And
that`s why we`re going to continue there, encourage diplomatic efforts to
restore the ceasefire. And we support Egypt`s continued efforts to bring
this about.

Over the next 24 hours, we will continue to stay in close contact with our
friends and parties in the region. And we will use all of our diplomatic
resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a
ceasefire. In the meantime, we`re going to continue to continue to stress
the need to protect civilians in Gaza and in Israel and to avoid further
escalation.

Finally, given its continued provocations in Ukraine, today I have approved
a new set of sanctions on some of Russia`s largest companies and financial
institutions. Along with our allies with whom I have been coordinating
closely with the last several days and weeks, I`ve repeatedly made it clear
that Russia must halt the flow of weapons and fighters across the border
into Ukraine. That Russia must urge separatists to release their hostages
and support a ceasefire. That Russia needs to pursue internationally
mediated talks and agreed to meaningful monitors on the border.

I`ve made this clear directly to Mr. Putin. Many of our European partners
have made this clear directly to Mr. Putin. We have emphasized our
preference to resolve this issue diplomatically but that we have to see
concrete actions and not just words that Russia in fact is committed to
trying to end this conflict along the Russia-Ukraine border.

So far, Russia has failed to take any of the steps that I mentioned. In
fact, Russia`s support the separatist and the violations of Ukraine`s
sovereignty has continued. On top of the sanctions, we`ve already imposed
were therefore designating selected sectors of the Russian economy as
eligible for sanctions. We`re freezing the assets of several Russian
defense companies and we are blocking new financing of some of Russia`s
most important banks and energy companies.

These sanctions are significant but they are also targeted, designed to
have the maximum impact on Russia while limiting any spiller effects on
American companies or those of our allies. Now we are taking these actions
in close consultation with our European allies. We`re meeting on Brussels
to agree on their next steps. And what we are expecting is that the
Russian leadership will see once again that it`s actions in Ukraine have
consequences including a weakening Russian economy and increasing
diplomatic isolation.

Now, meanwhile, we`re going to continue to stand with the Ukrainian people
as they seek to determine their own future. Even in the midst of this
crisis, they have made remarkable progress. These past few months they
held democratic elections. They elected a new president. They`re pursuing
important reforms and they signed a new association agreement with the
European Union.

And the United States will continue to offer our strong support to Ukraine
to help stabilize its economy and defend its territorial integrity because
like any people Ukraine is deserved the right to forge their own destiny.

So in closing, I`ll point out the obvious. We live in a complex world and
at a challenging time. And none of these challenges lend themselves to
quick or easy solutions but all of them require American leadership. And
as commander in chief, I`m confident that if we say patient and determined,
that we will in fact meet these challenges. Thanks very much.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: President Obama taking no questions and making a statement
addressing Afghanistan, Iran, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the
Ukraine, and how the United States is now calling out the Russians for
failing to act and not taking the actions that they said they were going to
take.

Let`s bring back NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, Andrea
Mitchell. Andrea, the president is saying that they`re be freezing the
assets of some big Russian companies dealing with defense and energy. How
big a news is this?

MITCHELL: Well, this is a big step up. What they`re doing is making
impossible for the biggest firms and energy companies to get access to U.S.
capital, to long-term investment anything beyond 90 days. That is a big
step. These investments count.

They can turn to Europe but anybody involved with U.S. banking will also be
shot out from them. So U.S. capital markets pretty much dominate the
world. That said, the Europeans, we do not think are following suit. They
are not going to be as tough. They are more targeted obviously having a
much larger economic involvement -- direct involvement with Russia.

What the president said is that these are targeted sanctions though that
they tried to minimize the spill of effect on U.S. companies and on our
European allies. So this is very carefully done. The officials that we
spoke to earlier said that they`re prepared to step this up if Russia does
not cease and decease.

And the president as you heard called out Vladimir Putin by name saying
that he has not lived up to his promises on Ukraine. And of course you
have heard most importantly the president say that Israel has the right to
defend itself but that Americans by the casualties, the civilians who`ve
been caught in the crossfire and so far that is so been the Palestinian
side as you know with the death of four children there today so tragically
there along the beach front of fishing families -- all cousins -- these
four youngsters.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MITCHELL: And he said that we`re hoping to leverage at ceasefire as you
know John Kerry`s been on the phone. Egypt has failed so far to broker
this but Israel has unilaterally agreed to review ends request for
humanitarian ceasefire of six hours tomorrow. And we`ll see whether the
Palestinians led by Hamas comply with that.

He also praised Kerry for brokering a deal to salvage Afghanistan`s
election and talk about the Iranian negotiation saying that they were very
promising in all the side in the next couple of days whether they would
extend them a lot on the president`s side.

SCHULTZ: No question about it. But to Ukraine for just a moment, Andrea.,
the president offered verbal support of the Ukrainian stating that the
people deserve to be free and to have economy that they desire. But
certainly, we didn`t get any detail about what anymore support the United
States might be given -- giving to Ukraine.

On the other hand, he very clearly said that Putin and the Russians have
got to stop putting weapons into the hands of separatists and he said
sending fighters into.

MITCHELL: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: . Ukraine and that they have not had the talks that were
promised. You`re anticipation of what we`re going to hear from Vladimir
Putin here in the next 24 hours?

MITCHELL: Well, you may see it on the ground. You may see Putin again
denying that he`s hands are dirty here. But you`ll see more tanks and more
ammunitions moving across that border and more fighting from the
separatists. So what you may see will have a Russian label but will not be
acknowledge by Russia. And Putin may say something himself to strike back
rhetorically at President Obama.

That said, the U.S. has a lot of economic leverage against Russia. And
Russia`s access to capital markets and its energy sector are pretty
important. Even though Europe is its main trading partner, it is a global
economy.

SCHULTZ: What is the process now, Andrea, to rescue this ceasefire? What
kind of assurances could the United States give to both sides to cool the
jets so to speak between Israel and Hamas? If Hamas keeps launching
rockets, we know that Israel is going to respond. So what role could the
United States play at this part specifically John Kerry.

MITCHELL: Kerry can play a major role in trying to get Netanyahu not to
for instance do the ground invasion that everyone is anticipating. And
Netanyahu has been fairly restrained according to most independent
observers but there`s only so much he`s going to be willing to hold back
given the pressure he`s under from his population and from members of his
own cabinet.

It was a split cabinet position which decided to observe the first
ceasefire. And now, there`s very little appetite according to Martin
Fletcher in the Israeli public to go along with anything further. So
that`s very difficult. And some would say that Kerry doesn`t have as much
leverage here as he might have had if we haven`t had those failed Middle
East talks although the White House and the State`s Department would
disagree and say that there`s no connection between the failure of the
peace talks which is, you know, crashed and burned in April.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MITCHELL: And our ability to be the deal maker right now. The biggest
problem is that Egypt and the rest of the landscape has changed. Egypt is
no longer led by the Muslim brotherhood. It`s led by a government led by
el-Sisi which isn`t about enemy of Hamas. And Egypt holds the choke
points, the access to those border crossings. So there`s very little that
can be done overtly by Kerry but he is firing up the phones. You may see
some travel.

Turkey is willing to be engaged. Gutter (ph) is willing to be engaged but
Egypt is trying to hold Turkey and Gutter (ph) back because he wants to be
the main player here. And right now, Hamas isn`t listening.

SCHULTZ: And one final point I`d like you to address tonight, Andrea, was
the second subject that the president talked about tonight and that is the
Iranian nuclear program.

MITCHELL: Sure.

SCHULTZ: It sounded like the president was acknowledging that he believes
that the Iranians have made some progress. That.

MITCHELL: Absolutely.

SCHULTZ: . they have stepped forward and done -- they have done what they
said they were going to do to this point but the inspections need to
increase. What do you make of that?

MITCHELL: Well, if -- you`re exactly right. And the first six months
where the easy part with Iran freezing in place and actually stepping down
from some of its enrichment but now comes the hard part, the technical side
where they have to really give something up. And so far, I`d be -- I had
told it has not been willing to do that. I believe there`s a division in
the Iranian government between Zarif, the foreign minister, Rouhani, the
president on one side, and on the other the hard-liners the Ayatollah who
has the final say and the Crude (ph) force and Republican Guard, the other
tough customers.

And so, it remains to be seen but I think you`re going to see in the next
couple of days a decision to extend because it`s really in no one`s
interest to escalate and break off relations with Iran right now.

SCHULTZ: NBC New Chief Foreign correspondent, Foreign Affairs -- you have
so many titles. You`ve done everything for this network.

MITCHELL: I know.

SCHULTZ: Andrea Mitchell, the best.

MITCHELL: I have you. Thanks so much, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Thank you so much. I appreciate you being with us tonight on
this breaking news.

And so to close it out here on the Ed Show, the president of the United
States has announced that they or that the United States is freezing assets
to some big companies that deal with defense and also energy because the
Russians have not done what they said they were going to do. Senior U.S.
officials announcing today that the administration is escalating sanctions
on Russia.

The president came out and confirmed that within the last few moments
talking about Afghanistan, Iran, the conflict between Israel and Hamas
which of course will stay in the news, and they will continue to rescue the
ceasefire. Also, the president`s saying that the Ukrainian people deserve
to have freedom. They deserve to have the government that they want and
the economy that they want and that Vladimir Putin and the Russians have to
stop putting in weapons and fighters and support into the separatists and
talks must take place.

So a very eventful hour here on the Ed Show on MSNBC. That`s the Ed Show.
I`m Ed Schultz. Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts now.
Good evening, Rev.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END

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