CNN's Chris Cuomo minimized the problem of sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants on Monday's New Day. When Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's special counsel, touted how Trump "opened up the eyes to (sic) many Americans that didn't even know sanctuaries existed," Cuomo claimed that sanctuary cities are a "misnomer." He underlined that "those are cities...are in disputes with ICE about how you deal with people that they're holding....But they're not safe havens the way you're describing." [video below]
The liberal anchor might want to object to his own network's coverage of the issue of illegal immigration, as the term has come up multiple times since Trump's announcement. One of Cuomo's co-anchors, Michael Pereira, and correspondent Dan Simon used the phrase on the Wednesday edition of the morning newscast, as they covered the murder of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco by an illegal alien:
DAN SIMON: And this [San Francisco] has been a sanctuary city since 1989, but there seems to be real questions – in terms of, how we're going to move forward from this? Both of California's senators – Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein – are both saying, perhaps, new legislation is needed, so something like this doesn't happen again. We should point out that Diane Feinstein is a former mayor of San Francisco.
MICHAELA PEREIRA: I'll point out there's some 70-plus jurisdictions in the United States that are sanctuary cities.
Besides Senators Boxer and Feinstein, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rebuked the California city's government for their sanctuary policy during her Tuesday interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar.
During the segment, the CNN journalist was true to form in giving a confrontational interview of a Republican/conservative guest. Cuomo asked Cohen regarding illegal immigration, "We know these problems exist. It's – how do we solve them? Him [Trump] saying, I'm going to charge people who come illegally a hundred thousand dollars – do you think that's a real solution?" The Trump advisor replied with his point about sanctuary cities. This led to Cuomo's "misnomer" contention about the term. He later inserted a defense of the Obama administration's handling of the issue:
CHRIS CUOMO: We know these problems exist. It's – how do we solve them? Him [Trump] saying, I'm going to charge people who come illegally a hundred thousand dollars – do you think that's a real solution?
MICHAEL COHEN, SPECIAL COUNSEL TO DONALD TRUMP: No, but what I'll tell you what he did do: he also opened up the eyes to (sic) many Americans that didn't even know sanctuaries existed.
CUOMO: What sanctuaries?
COHEN: These sanctuaries on the border that allow illegals to stay – and, if in fact that they end up getting caught, they cannot deport them-
CUOMO: You're talking about sanctuary cities that exist all over the country?
COHEN: Yeah, sanctuary cities – that's correct-
CUOMO: That's a misnomer. Those are cities that are in disputes with ICE about how you deal with people that they're holding – that they keep getting sued-
COHEN: They're part of the United States! You can't be in dispute with the federal government-
CUOMO: But they're not safe havens the way you're describing.
COHEN: They most certainly are safe havens.
CUOMO: They are not. It's about how they follow process-
COHEN: They will not turn them over, Chris. They will not turn them over-
CUOMO: They will. There's a legal process. There's a whole reason they got to this. There have been more people deported in the last six years than we'd had in the previous decade.
