Immigration and guns take center stage
CBS News -- "Gang of eight" senators hopeful on immigration, talk guns
"Face the Nation" guests are in the news today on all the biggest foreign and domestic issues of the week. While North Korea's threats have the world's attention, the Senate appears to be moving ahead with two domestic policy initiatives. The "Gang of Eight" group of Senators working on a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill hope to put their plan out by the end of the week, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the group, on Sunday's "Face the Nation."
Bloomberg News explains what might be in the bill, which Schumer and his colleague Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., discussed. Expect the plan to be a "big specific bill." And, according to McCain, expect "a great deal of unhappiness about this proposal because everybody" won't get what they wanted. The Denver Post outlines what some of the disappointments might be. The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Politico, Associated Press and ABC News all have more on the immigration deal, too, including Sen. McCain's defense against critics who say the group is railroading the bill through back channels of Congress without enough transparency.
CBS News: "Gang of eight" hoping for immigration bill this week, Schumer says
The Senators also got into the gun control debate, which might take place on the Senate floor this week. Although they're on different sides of the aisle and the issue, both agreed it was important for the Senate to hold a debate for the bill. McCain urged his party not to filibuster the legislation, which Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has threatened to do. McCain said he didn't understand the filibuster threat, asking "What are we afraid of?" National Review has background on the filibuster threat and McCain's comment, as does Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Global Dispatch and Politico.
The Washington Post writes "Prospects for a bipartisan deal to expand federal background checks for gun purchases are improving with the emergence of fresh Republican support, according to top Senate aides." On the show, McCain said he would look at the specifics of background checks at gun shows, but he didn't commit to supporting them. These checks are particularly important to Schumer, who wrote language in the legislation to expand background checks "to cover nearly all gun transactions, with narrow exceptions," explains Huffington Post. Boston Globe's Alan Fram reports the deal to expand these checks is taking form, and explains what it might look like.
But it wasn't all domestic policy on "Face the Nation." Schumer and McCain both had strong words for China, the country they consider the key player in pressuring North Korea to stop its nuclear program and its threats of war. Schumer said "The Chinese hold a lot of the cards here," and that it is "about time they stepped up to the plate." McCain had stronger words, calling their behavior thus far "disappointing." Bloomberg outlines what China could do to lessen tensions. New York Magazine takes a lighter note with their story "China Also Wants North Korea to Chill." Reuters, The Washington Post, The New York Times and BusinessWeek have more on their appearance and what McCain, a long-time member of the Armed Services Committee had to say about what he called a "most serious situation."
CBS News: "Serious" threat of accidental war with North Korea says Sen. McCain
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is also taking North Korea's threats seriously, and agreed that China is key to addressing the situation. Albright said she thought the Obama administration was doing a good job so far of handling the crisis, but suggested that talks with North Korea should be part of their solution. Politico has more on that advice, as does The Telegraph.