Chad’s Morning Brief: New Poll Shows Donald Trump Still on Top and Greg Abbott Demands Federal Action on the Border

Here are just a couple of the topics that will be discussed today on The Chad Hasty Show.

Trump #1

If you thought Donald Trump was finished or about to come back down to Earth, you would be wrong. According to USA Today, new polling data shows Donald Trump ten points ahead Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

Some political analysts, including those in the latest USA TODAY GOP Power Rankings, see Trump as beginning to lose ground as scrutiny on him as a potential president intensifies. Still, he continues to lead the field at 23%, up 6 points from the July survey. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, and Fiorina, an ex-CEO, tie for second at 13%, both big jumps the last poll. That means about half of the GOP electorate now backs candidates who have never served in elective office.

No other candidate breaks into double digits. Rubio is at 9%, Bush at 8%, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 6% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 2%. Not a single respondent backs former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum or former New York governor George Pataki.

In this latest poll Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham are all at 1% or less. Chris Christie seems to be picking up some supporters in Iowa, but Jindal and Graham are going no where. Kasich, Huckabee, and Rand Paul are all polling at 2% and should all probably get out of the race.

Abbott Demands Action

According to the Texas Tribune, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter Wednesday to the federal government demanding they take action to secure the border.

On Wednesday, Abbott sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson requesting that 250 additional Border Patrol agents be sent to Texas to combat the crossings, which increased in August by more than half over a year prior. Abbott also asked for five aerostats — blimp-like aircrafts — to help law enforcement officials combat drug smuggling.

In addition, Abbott wants to know more about the conditions under which people in the country illegally are released to either family members of private groups across the state. A fourth request by the governor is for continued collaboration with federal agencies on the operation of two detention centers in Texas.

In August, the Border Patrol arrested almost 10,000 immigrant families and unaccompanied children trying to illegally cross the border, a 52 percent increase over the same month in 2014. The White House has called the increase a "concerning" and "surprising uptick," noting that the numbers typically decline in August due to the weather.

The increase comes a year after  tens of thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America showed up at the border in what was called a humanitarian crisis. That wave led then-Gov. Rick Perry to dispatch the National Guard to the Rio Grande Valley.

In the letter, Abbott emphasized that Texas is doing its part to secure the border, citing the $800 million plan he signed into law in June. Among other things, the plan calls for 250 new Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be stationed in the area of the border.

"Texas will continue to be assertive in securing our border," Abbott wrote. "But given recent reports that our southern border has become more porous — not less, it is clearer than ever that the federal government must act to reverse the tide of this mounting crisis."

Sadly, the federal government won't do their job when it comes to the border. Instead they will look the other way and allow sanctuary cities to grow.

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard on our KFYO YouTube page after the show and online at kfyo.com.