Political analyst Charlie Sykes joins Lake Effect in studio to discuss the ramifications of the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the rocky road ahead for President Trump, and more locally, the resignation of former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.
Trump administration announces end to the DACA program.
"Republicans and the administration are pointing to President Obama's overreach in enacting DACA through executive order, but he did that because Congress had failed to act on this... So the question is: how willing are they to do this now?"
"This is an issue that is incredibly fraught for the base. One of the things that Trump has not really explained yet is: Would he sign any piece of legislation that they pass, assuming they could muster the votes to pass it? Is there a possibility that if the base became aroused enough, that he might actually veto it?"
Republican reactions to the end of DACA.
"The optics would be so horrible of taking 800,000 really law-abiding, young people - who have jobs, who are studying, some of whom were in the military - and stripping them of their legal status. This is one of those things no one, I think, really wants to have happen - certainly no elected Republican wants to have happen. The question is whether or not they're going to risk having Donald Trump cut them off at the knees."
The optics and morality of ending DACA.
"When you're talking about kids who were brought here, who themselves broke no law whatsoever, who are productive members of society, this should be the easiest bipartisan fix and the fact that it won't be is an indication of just how toxic our politics have become."
The buck stops with Jeff Sessions in DACA decision.
"Harry Truman used to have a sign on his desk, 'The buck stops here.' With President Trump the buck never seems to stop with him. There's always somebody else who has to do the heavy lifting, always somebody else to blame if something goes wrong. I thought two things were interesting. Number one, that you have Jeff Sessions, rather than the president, announce this. Number two, that Jeff Sessions did not take any questions. Here you have a major policy decision by the administration, affects hundreds of thousands of people, and he would not even answer questions about it. Not a profile in courage."
Trump administration's response to Hurricane Harvey.
"The President's first visit there made it look like it was a reality T.V. show. I think he did better over the weekend, but so far there hasn't been a disaster. On the other hand, you know, keep in mind how expensive this is going to be, how complex this is going to be. We're still in early days and if this, in fact, was a once-in-a-thousand-years storm, this is a once-in-a-one-thousand-years recovery effort."
Tensions rise in U.S. conflict with North Korea, in light of an alleged hydrogen bomb test.
"There was a while there where President Trump was suggesting that his tough rhetoric had gotten the North Koreans to back off, that they were so respectful of his leadership and his rhetoric that they were dialing down their operation. That clearly is not true."
"Our policies so far have failed, so a tougher policy is not necessarily a bad idea, putting more pressure on China is not necessarily a bad idea."
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke resigns and joins pro-trump super PAC, America First Action.
"As many strengths as David Clarke had, in terms of highlighting certain issues, his indifference to his day job really was becoming a significant problem, or had become a significant problem with the lawsuits, the deaths in the jail, some of the other practices. And I think this will become a good opportunity for everybody to turn their page, and perhaps now have a sheriff's department that might actually work well and play well with others when it comes to others in the community and in law enforcement."
The effort to recall Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
"What a complete waste of time."
