Bill’s Opinion of the State of the Union

In a recent CNN poll, 48 percent had a 'very positive' reaction to Trump’s SOTU address, 22% said they had a "somewhat positive" reaction to the speech and 29% reacted negatively to Trump’s SOTU address. 

Another question asked is if Trump’s policies move the country in the right direction. 62% said yes, he is going in the right direction and 35% said no, he is going in the wrong direction. 

Past Presidential SOTU ratings from CNN show that former President George W. Bush's 2006 State of the Union address put positive reactions at 48%. As did a 2010 poll after former President Obama's first State of the Union, according to CNN.  

In a CBS News Poll, 75% of viewers approved of Trump's first State of the Union address while only 25% of viewers disapproved of Trump’s speech. 

On Tuesday, nearly 100,000 unaccompanied minors who entered the U.S. illegally had been released into the U.S. interior since fiscal year 2016, the White House noted. Unaccompanied minors must be released into “the least restrictive setting in the best interest of the child” under current U.S. law. The White House noted that this policy “often results in release to the custody of family members or other sponsors living in the United States,” adding that these unaccompanied children generally remain within the U.S. and fail to appear before immigration judges. Family units which arrive in the U.S. are also generally released into the interior of the U.S. under current law. “From FY16 to date, over 167,000 family units were apprehended,” the statement said, adding that there has been a 625% increase of illegal family unit apprehensions since April 2017. 

The president delivered a lengthy and emphatic defense of the administration’s position on illegal immigration in general and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in particular. In the signature line from the night, Trump insisted “Americans are dreamers, too” — an allusion to the name of “Dreamers” for DACA beneficiaries and to Trump’s insistence that the rights of native-born Americans should be the primary focus. 

At other points, he complained about “the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country” and linked lax immigration policy to the activities of criminal gangs like MS-13 and to two terrorist attacks in New York. 

Alongside Trump’s harder rhetoric, he did emphasize that the White House framework on DACA offers a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children.

Memo Update: Trump on Hot Mic Says He Will '100 Percent' Release Devin Nunes Memo

While leaving his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, January 30th, President Trump was caught on a C-SPAN hot mic, saying he is in favor of releasing the classified Republican Intelligence memo.   

While speaking to Republican Lawmaker Representative Jeff Duncan, President Trump said he was “100 percent” in favor of making public the memo, after Duncan urged Trump to release the classified memo.  

On a nearby microphone Trump can be heard saying to Duncan, “don’t worry, 100 percent.” Duncan’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.   

Previously on Tuesday, The White House had said, that they would conduct a legal and National Security review of the memo before President Trump can decide to release the memo to the public. There are currently no plans to release the memo that have been confirmed by the White House. The memo was authored by House Intelligence Chairman, Devin Nunes and staff.   

The four page long, memo reportedly accuses Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of overreach in authorizing an extension of a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 

FBI Director Said McCabe's Exit Is Tied to IG Report

Inspector General Michael Horowitz, investigating the handling of Hillary Clinton's emails in the final weeks before the election, has found three weeks of inaction to be questionable behavior at the highest levels of the FBI, according to The Washington Post. 

The emails were those on former congressman's Anthony Weiner's laptop and the inaction has led to Horowitz questioning "why FBI leadership seemed unwilling to move forward" for about three weeks, potentially having planned to hold off until after the election, sources told the Post. 

NBC reported earlier that FBI Director Chris Wray made clear in a message sent to all bureau employees on Monday night that Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's decision to step aside was a result of forthcoming information to be detailed in an inspector general report, according to a copy of his message obtained by NBC News. 

Wray alluded to having seen aspects of the IG's report into the way the FBI handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server. 

"It would be inappropriate for me to comment on specific aspects of the IG's review right now," Wray said in the message. "But I can assure you that I remain staunchly committed to doing this job, in every respect, 'by the book.' I will not be swayed by political or other pressure in my decision making." 

In the next paragraph, Wray explained that McCabe had submitted his intention to retire, suggesting a connection between the findings of the IG report and McCabe's decision. 

Several sources familiar with McCabe's move said he made his decision as a result of a meeting with Wray in which the inspector general's investigation was discussed.

ESPN Host: Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Mascot Is Offensive, Needs to Change

During a debate Tuesday over the Cleveland Indian's recent decision to drop their "Chief Wahoo" logo, ESPN "First Take" host Max Kellerman argued the Notre Dame Fighting Irish mascot is offensive as well. 

Max Kellerman said he is personally thanked every time he visits a reservation for his public opposition to Native-American mascots in sports. "When I go to Native-American reservations around the country to call fights, I am approached—I've received feathers in honor and letters saying, ‘Thank you for your stance,'" he said. 

Kellerman continued to argue that ethnic mascots should be changed "even if it is a minority of the group that is offended," and said that rule also should apply to the University of Notre Dame, whose athletic teams are known as the Fighting Irish. 

"Many Irish-Americans are not offended, but many are. And should that also change? The answer is yes, unequivocally yes," Kellerman said, as his guest Will Cain groaned. 

ESPN’s Max Kellerman is playing on the national anthem at sporting events are emblematic of a “far left-wing” desire to “overthrow everything we used to agree upon.” 

ESPN’s “First Take” made headlines when its hosts revisited the national anthem protests by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Mr. Kellerman likened Mr. Kaepernick’s decision to boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s stance on Vietnam. 

“Neither Muhammad Ali nor Colin Kaepernick went out looking for a protest. It came to them,” Mr. Kellerman said. “You do not have to stand for the national anthem, and even if it was a rule that you [must stand], is that Colin Kaepernick injecting politics in the NFL? No. That’s the NFL injecting politics by playing the national anthem and putting pressure on you to stand for it in the first place.” 

A Washington Post Survey finds that 9 in 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by Redskins name. The poll was conducted from December 2015 to April 2016. The survey also found that among the Native American 7 in 10 said they did not feel the word “Redskin” was disrespectful to Indians.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The first use of the nickname “Fighting Irish” for Notre Dame sports teams may have been in 1909, when legend says that a player’s speech at the halftime of a football game against Michigan inspired a furious comeback.

Mail Time!

• Hi Bill, I've been a viewer for many years and joined your Podcast after you left Fox. I just went onto the web site and since I only go there occasionally, was very impressed with how much information is on the site. After spending 15 minutes there, I concluded that it's the website that is the most valuable. I also subscribe to the WSJ web site, and between it and billoreilly.com I feel I'm getting 99% of what's important. You and your staff who prepare the website have done an outstanding job, and my only comment is maybe it needs to be promoted more? 

• After reading Killing England for the second time in two months I have officially declared it my favorite book of all time. With that being said, I couldn't help but to wonder whether Washington and Jefferson would have agreed with President Trumps vision for America. I concluded that Washington would have respected Trump’s tenacity and relentlessness, and Jefferson would have respected Trump's patriotism and candor. What say you, Bill? 

• Lester should have been perceptive enough to recognize something was wrong when there was NO ONE on the slopes in the background. Most of those unfortunate souls probably don't even know what skiing is. It looked like they were just wandering around.

Word of the Day: Churlish