Rational Radio Daily With Steele And Ungar

President Trump's decision to wind down the DACA program prompted several Republicans and Democrats around the Hill to invoke President Reagan's position on amnesty as a guiding force for lawmakers. President Reagan's son, Michael Reagan, a Republican strategist, author and veteran talk radio host, talks to Michael Steele and Rick Ungar about how he thinks his dad would have addressed DACA's legal, moral and constitutional quandaries. David Drucker, senior political correspondent for The Washington Examiner, discusses GOP fears that eliminating DACA may further erode its support among Hispanic voters.

Christian Picciolini, a reformed white supremacist, joined Michael Steele and Rick Ungar last month in the weeks after Charlottesville to try and help the guys understand the psychology and rationale of those who marched Nuremberg-style through the campus of the University of Virginia and rallied in favor of white supremacy. He described the movement he was a part of and helped organize for five years by saying, "We hated other people because we really hated ourselves." Picciolini returns tonight to give an in-depth and detailed account of his time as a skinhead, how he overcame his hatred, and his thoughts on the white supremacist movement in America today.

President Trump spent months on the campaign trail railing against DACA , the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, as an unconstitutional executive overreach by President Obama that rewarded illegal immigrants and prevented American workers from getting jobs. However, at his first presidential press conference back in February, President Trump talked about how his administration would treat the issue of DACA with "a lot of heart." President Trump decided to end the program, giving Congress a six-month window to find a legislative solution. Kris Kobach, Secretary of State for the great state of Kansas, a vocal critic of the DACA program, explains to Michael Steele and Rick Ungar why he thinks ending DACA is a good thing for the U.S. Dick Allen, foreign policy coordinator for President Nixon and President Reagan's first national security adviser, shares his thoughts on how we should deal with the North Korea quagmire.

To many in Washington, one of the most shocking aspects of the Trump presidency has been the president's continued verbal attacks on U.S. intelligence agencies. Staff at the CIA, FBI and NSA are all experiencing a drop in morale. The intelligence community is getting even antsier as reports surface that President Trump might offer a pardon to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Robert Deitz, former senior councilor to CIA Director Michael Hayden, shares his concerns for what an Assange pardon could mean for both the Russia probe and the intelligence community. Dr. Anand Parekh, former deputy assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, talks about Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and how the government can better prepare for such disasters.

While the 2020 election may be over three years away, Congressman John Delaney (D-Md.) is already laying the groundwork for a run at the White House. Rep. Delaney and other prominent Democratic figures, including Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, are touring key primary states like New Hampshire and South Carolina. Congressman Delaney joins Michael Steele and Rick Ungar to talk about the issues that matter most to him and what the road to 2020 looks like. The guys also discuss recent reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is collaborating with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in his investigation of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

After North Korea's missile test earlier this week, Rick Ungar and Michael Steele talked with Dr. Laura Grego, a senior scientist in the Global Security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Dr. Grego says she doesn't believe missile defense as a concept will save the day. The guys also discussed how Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is handling President Trump's ban on transgender military personnel.

After losing more than 1,000 seats over the last 10 years, the Democratic Party is trying to win back majorities in the House, Senate and state governments. DNC Chairman Tom Perez joins Michael Steele and Rick Ungar to discuss how he's rebuilding the party's infrastructure and messaging. Dr. Bruce Bechtol, president of the International Council on Korean Studies, talks about North Korea's latest missile tests and how the U.S. should respond.

When Watergate expert Jim Robenalt joined Steele & Ungar, he explained that President Trump, like President Nixon, couldn't pardon with absolute impunity, saying, "One of the articles of impeachment against Nixon was that he was using the pardon power improperly." However, pardoning political ally Joe Arpaio sent a very loud message to special counsel Robert Mueller. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and longtime Washington Post culture critic Henry Allen talked with Michael about why President Trump is so awkward in Washington, D.C.

The day after President Trump's inauguration, millions of women gathered in cities across the United States and around the world to protest what they saw as an anti-woman administration. The impact of the Women's March is now being felt in elections across the country. Joan Walsh, MSNBC political analyst and national affairs correspondent for The Nation, talks about her recent piece that documents the huge surge in first-time female candidates in local and state-wide races because of the 2016 election and the Trump presidency.

Career counterintelligence officer Malcolm Nance shared some perspective on a recent update in the Russia investigation when he joined Steele & Ungar. "If we weren't focused on the president's speeches and tweets, this would be the top story of the week." Nance described the news that Glenn Simpson, author of the infamous 'Steele Dossier', testified about the dossier in front of a Senate committee earlier this week. Multiple news sources have also reported that Rick Dearborn, a top Trump campaign staffer and current deputy chief of staff, may have sent emails requesting meetings between the Trump campaign and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Malcolm explains the seriousness of these events and their potential impact on the Russia investigation. Reformed neo-Nazi Christian Picciolini talks about his past as a white supremacist, how he left that life and how he's helping individuals leave lives of hate and violence through his non-profit organization, "Life After Hat

"It was the most unworthy, ugly, inciteful speech I can remember a president giving." That's how Bob Shrum, a legend in presidential politics, described President Trump's speech at his Make America Great Again rally Tuesday night. Shrum went on to say that the president's behavior is "not normal for a state assemblyman, much less the President of the United States". Shrum shared his thoughts on President Trump's speech and also talked to Michael Steele and Rick Ungar about the state of modern presidential politics. Jim Antle, politics editor for the Washington Examiner, joined the guys to discuss his piece, "Frustrated by governing, Trump returns to campaigning".

After President Trump's speech in Fort Myer, Virginia, last night, Breitbart News ran the following headline: "TRUMP’S ‘AMERICA FIRST’ BASE UNHAPPY WITH FLIP-FLOP AFGHANISTAN SPEECH." The headline spoke volumes about the president's decision to reverse over two years of campaign promises to pull out of Afghanistan. Pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle remarked how similar President Trump's rhetoric on Afghanistan was to both President Obama and President George W. Bush. Retired General Barry McCaffrey, one of the most decorated generals in U.S. history, joins Michael Steele and Rick Ungar to dissect the president's speech. Michael and Rick also debate how the Democrats lost their "blue wall," reliably Democratic Midwestern states like Michigan and Wisconsin in the 2016 election.

When President Trump gave his first public statement on the tragic violence in Charlottesville, he condemned violence "on both sides". Pundits, reporters, politicians and people on social media condemned the president for creating a moral equivalence between neo-Nazis and white supremacists and protesters. However, there is certainly reason to condemn the violent rhetoric and protest tactics used by far-left resistance groups like antifa. Ryan Lenz, senior investigative reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center, explains why far-left groups like antifa feel the need to use violence to combat the violence and rhetoric of far-right and alt-right groups. Jared Rizzi, SiriusXM's White House correspondent, discusses what we can expect from President Trump's address on the United States' military future in Afghanistan.

"[This was] one of the worst weeks I think any of us have ever seen in any presidency." With this succinct sentence, Rick Ungar summed up this incredibly divisive week in American politics. In many ways, it began last Friday with the Nuremberg-inspired demonstration on UVA's campus and it ended today with White House chief strategist Steve Bannon's departure from the administration. In between was a whirlwind of political fallout over President Trump's statements on the violence in Charlottesville. Rick and Michael wonder whether the continuing fallout will continue to destabilize and ultimately derail the president's legislative agenda. Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, shares her thoughts on Senator Jeff Flake's New York Times op-ed, the RAISE Act and the national debate over both legal and illegal immigration.

"What do angry white boys want?" National Review's roving correspondent Kevin Williamson's answer might surprise you: girlfriends. Williamson discusses his theory on the undercurrent of sexual politics that informs modern white supremacist ideology. Bill Sternberg, editorial page editor for USA Today, talks about the paper's editorial calling for Congress to censure President Trump.

In this bonus podcast, Jim Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, talked with Michael and Rick about the debates to remove confederate statues, like those of Robert E. Lee, and memorials from Southern cities and towns. He said people should stop trying to compare Lee with George Washington, stating, "Why would you want to defend someone whose signature life achievement was treason and defending the institution of slavery?"

"This was a moral disgrace." Dr. Charles Krauthammer did not mince words with Fox News' Bill Hemmer on Special Report as he condemned President Trump's comments that there was violence 'on both sides' at the Charlottesville rallies and protests over the weekend. "What he did is he reverted back to where he was on Saturday and made it very clear that what he read on... Monday, two days later, was a hostage tape. Clearly reading off a prompter, saying these denunciations by name of the KKK, et cetera. That wasn't Trump speaking, that was the aides speaking." Dr. Krauthammer was one of many pundits, both on the right and left, to strongly criticize the president's lack of moral leadership. However, many congressional Republicans failed to condemn President Trump by name. Rep. Charlie Dent, the co-chair of the moderate GOP Tuesday Group, joined Michael Steele and Rick Ungar to discuss how the Republican Party needs to get back to its roots as the party of Lincoln and civil rights. Evan McMullin, a&

"I think there's blame on both sides," said President Donald Trump at an impromptu press conference today at Trump Tower. "You have some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides." These comments sparked immediate outrage across social media and garnered praise from white supremacists like David Duke for his criticism of the antifa protesters. Noah Rothman, associate editor of Commentary Magazine, discusses why violent protest of any kind is unacceptable in a democratic society. Gordon Chang, an author and Forbes contributor, talks about the current state of play with North Korea and how it may affect trade with China.

"I'm glad they believe that Lindsey Graham is not their friend," Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox New's Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, "It would bother me a lot if they did. So, if I were president of the United States and these people showed sympathy toward me and my agenda, it would bother me." Senator Graham condemned the neo-Nazi, KKK and alt-right groups rallying in Charlottesville over the weekend and President Trump for refusing to explicitly denounce these white supremacist groups. The president ended up condemning the groups today, but the damage was done. Michael Steele and Rick Ungar wonder how the GOP will react to this seminal moment in the face of the president's lack of moral leadership. Former Congressman John Dingell, a World War II veteran and the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history, discusses the importance of a president's character.

"Strong law enforcement is absolutely vital to having a drug-free society," President Trump said at a briefing on the national opioid epidemic Tuesday. "I'm confident that by working with our health care and law enforcement experts we will fight this deadly epidemic and the United States will win." But will this strategy prevail? The president's "law and order" strategy was seen as an abrupt departure from his opioid crisis commission's recommendations. Michael Steele and Rick Ungar wonder whether President Trump's strong-arm tactics will have a positive and meaningful impact on this national health emergency.