tv Anderson Cooper 360 CNN February 21, 2017 10:00pm-11:01pm PST
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topping this hour of 360, no changes yet for the dreamers, difficult days ahead potentially for almost any other undocumented immigrant. sweeping changes to enforcement guidelines make it easier to deport people immediately, making it harder for asylum seekers. expanding the focus of the border to anywhere else on the country. in a home, one former border state mayor on what this may mean on the ground, and also the political pluses and minuses for the administration. pamela brown with the very latest. >> reporter: tonight the department of homeland security releasing new guidelines that could massively expand the number of undocumented immigrants detained or deported from the u.s. they will expedite the removal
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of undocumented immigrants from the u.s. >> everybody who is here illegally is subject to removal at any time. the priority that the president has laid forward, and the priority that ice is putting forward is to make sure that the people that have committed a crime are the priority of their efforts. >> reporter: under president obama, ice focussed on deportation in three categories, convicted criminals, public safety threats and those who recently crossed the border illegally. under the trump administration those categories will be broadened out. now anyone accused of a crime such as a dui is eligible for deportation. and immigration agents now have broader discretion to decide who to write up. cnn rode along with ice agents in 2015 when they targeted an undocumented criminal at this auto shop in chicago, when another undocumented immigrant at the same shop took off running. he had no criminal background to
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ice let him go. but now under the new guidelines, that same man could be detained and possibly deported. >> we're scared. >> reporter: gracea martinez was brought here 20 years ago. the white house says people like martinez known as dreamers will be protected under dau ka for now. >> it's a tough subject. we're going to deal with daca with heart. >> we're concerned what donald trump means for our family. will it mean that we will be separated from our mother, just like we were separated from our father nine years ago? >> the memos are ending some programs, what do they call for? >> reporter: that's right. so the memos in the catch and release program, and that's when an undocumented immigrant was arrested and then released until the immigration proceeding, which would sometimes be years, so this is effectively ends that program, and it calls for more
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expedited removals for those who have been in the united states for two years or less. it also makes it harder for asylum seekers to stay in the u.s. while they await their proceedings. now it's important to emphasize the administration says these are new guidelines. they are not making any changes to the law. this is all under the existing laws. anderson? >> pam brown. thanks. joining us is julio castro, former democratic mayor of san antonio, texas. thanks for being with us. what's your immediate reaction to these changes? how big a change is this really? >> well, you know, when you go through the executive order, the executive order is a mess. and, as folks throughout the evening have been remarking, seems somewhat contradictory, on the one hand they say no exceptions except for daca, and we're still going to prioritize criminals, on the other hand, it's very clear that this is a significant change. that they are expanding the dragnet, and even though, for
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instance, they say that dreamers are off limits right now. the fact is that right here this san antonio, my hometown, just a couple days ago, there was a dreamer that was rounded up. so the way i read this is it's a significant change. it's an unleash the hounds type of executive order that is basically going to give license to folks out there in local communities, ice agents who want to be aggressive to go ahead and be aggressive. >> it does seem like a lot is left up to interpretation when it comes to judgments that different agencies have to make or frankly that different cities set as priorities. >> it does. and yeah, the executive order talks about, for instance, expanding 287g, basically expanding a program that worked with local communities as an amplifying force to round up undocumented immigrants, police chiefs around the country have
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said most do not want that kind of responsibility. they want to focus on hard-core criminals. so you are going to have a lot of local communities who say i don't want to participate in 27 don't want to participate in 287g. we want to use the resources more wisely. >> president trump then candidate trump, he campaigned on making these changes. none of this really should come as a surprise to anybody, and he did win the election partly based on his promise to deport many people who are in this country illegally. what do you say to those who say, look, this is long overdue, that people have broken the law, not criminal law, but broken the law by coming here and that this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody? >> well, you know, i put that in the category of politics. i don't care whether it's a surprise or not. what i care about are the families who are being impacted by this. even if somebody, even if you're somebody watching out there and you say, look, they broke the law, they got to go. the fact is that so many of the
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folks that we're talking about have family members. american citizens that you're ripping those people apart from, you're tearing apart families. so this has real-life consequences, far apart from the politics of this. the other thing that i would say is, if you're out there in middle america and you think, wow, this guy really, he lived up to his campaign promise. you know what? what he's proposed is not going to make your life better. it's not going to create one more job for you or your family. it's not going to solve the problems that you may or may not have in your life. all this is doing is making it worse for families across the united states, and it's going to hurt the economies of states across this country, and, as we've seen in place like alabama and other states, that has a very real consequence in your life. so get ready for it. >> you say get ready for it. this may take a long amount of time. i mean, there's still questions about where is the money going to come from, and we're talking about an awful lot of money to
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train officers, not just more ice agents but courts to process this, holding facilities. there's a lot of details that still have to be worked out. >> no doubt. and yes, and no. there's some of it that probably is going to happen immediately. for instance, by unleashing the hounds here, they're aggressive ice agents in some communities that are going to start rounding up undocumented immigrants right away. at the same time, he's talking about scrounging the budget to build the wall. that's going to take a long time. that's billions and billions of dollars. that's going to take a while. i don't think that will come to pass, but that will take a long time. same thing for the 5,000 dhs employees that he talks about in the executive order. you're not going to do that overnight. there's a battle in congress right now over how much more spending there's going to be. so those are big hurdles that this executive order has to overcome. >> thank you for your time, appreciate you very much.
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>> thank you. >> joining us is paul babeu. former sheriff in arizona, and gloria borger and jeff tuben is back. you've seen this first hand. how big a shift is this? >> this is significant. i remind people, everybody needs to ratchet it down a couple notches, because nothing's changed in the law. what's happening is the law's going to be enforced, and the president is setting very clear priorities for guidance or direction to those who enforce the law. and it's targeted, centered around the criminal element. there's, some people say 11, some people say 14 million illegals who are here. the president, very specifically, is targeting the criminal element, the million plus, 74% of which have felony convictions. and he's right to do that. and what's noticeable, when
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you're talking to secretary castro, now i hear this countless times, and it makes me sick quite honestly, the fact that they're divorced from reality. they have compassion for everyone else, yet i never hear them talk about the steve ronnenbacks, whose son has been murdered in my state. the maryann mendoza, whose son has been murdered. you've met these people. they never talk about compassion or interest or prioritizing them. >> some critics have pointed to that the definition of who is a criminal has now been expanded into this. that it's not just the felons. it can, that it's basically up to any law enforcement agent to decide who they want to deport. >> it's not. it's giving very clear guidance, the same way the six-page memo was put out by secretary johnson, giving very clear directives to those 22 agencies under homeland security. we're looking at those here two years or less.
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remember, obama live tv said if you're illegal, five years or more, you're going to get deferred action. the same night, secretary johnson put out that directive for prosecutorial discretion. the reality on the ground, because my deputies at the time enforced it, they were asking people how long have you been here and gloria, if you've been here for only two weeks and you tell me five years, which of course you're going to do to stay here. >> mm-hm. >> that's the reality. so it was de facto amnesty for every illegal who was here. that's the reality under obama. >> let me bring in jeff tuben. is that your understanding as well? that essentially it's not a huge change or expansion of who is a criminal? >> no, it is an expansion of the number of people who are going to get deported, and i have to say, i think it is an appalling that the sheriff is trying to use the deaths at the hands of people at the hands of criminals.
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everybody, secretary castro wants to see criminals punished. everybody wants to see people who murder other people punished, whether they are legal or illegal in the united states. the question is, do you want law-abiding people thrown out of this country, people who work. people who have families in this country. that's what this order is going to do. and the idea that donald trump invented the idea of deporting criminals, you saw earlier in the story that obama's priority was deporting criminals. so the expansion here is not with criminals. the expansion is for undocumented people living in this country trying to make a living. that's the people who are going to get deported as a result. >> that's not reality. i can tell you, my deputies were arresting illegals smuggling drugs, smuggling people. they've been deported, six times, 22 times. don't scratch your head wondering why, it's because there was no enforcement of the law. it shouldn't be appalling.
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people always forget the tens and tens of thousands of american citizens who have been victimized by this criminal element. the democrats, it's largely the democrat, liberal side, has done their side no service, because they, they did not go after the criminal element. they've allowed -- >> can i -- >> like that case of ronnenback, that criminal was out for a year and a half. >> but how do you get, a, more agents. that's going to cost $1 billion to $4 billion. you're already building a wall that costs $20 million, plus, and how are you sure that when you give these local officials such discretion that they're going to use it wisely? >> there's a couple issues here. you're talking about law enforcement. you give me the authority, gloria, in this republic, to make decisions up to and
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including lethal force. my god, can we not make determinations about who is here in the country and who is a threat, who is not? the law hasn't changed. we're setting priorities. you bring up a very valid point. there's going to take some time to ramp up to hire what is 15,000 agents. it takes nearly a year for a regular police officer to answer calls on his or her own. so it's going to take four, six, eight, 12 months for this really to get on its legs and start to walk and to run. the reality here is we're uncuffing. the president has, very clearly, said this, you're uncuffing the law and order people. the ice immigration officers, the border patrol. what happened, illegals would come across, and they were given an nta, a notice to appear to show up to court 30-plus days later, 90, 95% would never show up. >> let me bring in julia. how do you see this? >> i don't know how you can say
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this is uncuffing and revolutionary and trump is finally doing something that no one else ever thought of before, which is not true. and everything is going to be okay. that's just not consistent. as a democrat who served in the department of homeland security in the last administration. enforcement is difficult. and everyone has to set priorities. what, what we saw today was language in the orders or in the guidelines that essentially did appear to un, unleash, right, because they left open the possibility that anyone, without any criminal violation, could get deported. and then you hear sean spicer do the wink and nod, we only want the bad people. well if you only want the bad people, that's the obama standard. in some ways it was so easy. i have to say that. to make it a democrat republican thing, that's not what this is. the challenge of enforcement is we have 11 million people.
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whatever it is, that are undocumented. you're not going to deport your way out of this problem. so the reason why democrats and republicans have historically have always focussed on enforcement as one piece. the others, could you get a pathway to citizenship, what kind of economy do we want, what kind of skilled labor, what kind of farm labor, those are the hard things. while this may be legal, it's definitely cruel. i really mean that as someone who's a proponent of enforcement. because it leaves open the discretion that leaves immigrant communities fearful and make them less likely to help the very local law enforcement who need them for violent crimes, for counter terrorism. >> i spoke to the mayor of los angeles a little while back and he said that was one of his big concerns, that a lot of local folks don't want to cooperate on something like this, because they're worried that someone who's illegal who witnessed a crime is not going to want to
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talk to the police, is not going to want to come in and give an interview out of fear that they may get picked up and deported. >> that's not true. there's special visas for anybody who would offer witness testimony and anybody connected in their family. i've granted those as a sheriff. people who are illegal. >> a lot of people may not know that. >> they may not. i've gone out of my way, i've listened to this wonderful woman talk, as she's part of the administration. and i feel like there's a parallel universe as i'm listening to these conversations, because the reality in my county, all 15 sheriffs in my state, and half of us are democrats, half of us were republicans. we all came together in a unified voice and spoke out saying this system is broken. we use, one day's example of criminals, dangerous criminals released into my state. two were murderers, and one was convicted of aggravated assault, and we said where do you think
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they were from? everybody responded, well, they must be mexico. not one was mexican, not one was hispanic. they came from iraq, russia and sudan. and we did this for the purpose not to say this is democratic or republican, but the system is broken. that's what has to be fixed. that's why donald trump was elected, to restore law and order. the reason i brought up the democrat is because it's these leaders who have failed our country when it comes to law and order, enforcing the law. that's why i've said they've done no favors for their argument. in fact, they've undermined it with the will of the american people. >> the sheriff is talking, the sheriff is talking as if -- >> not everyone. jeffrey? >> the sheriff is talking as if every single person who is in this country without papers is a criminal. >> no i'm not. >> he's talking exclusively
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about criminals, but i think sane people can agree that the vast, vast majority of people who are in this country without papers are trying to make a living. they are not criminals. and this is what we should be talking about. what's going to happen to them? are they just going to be put into boxcars, 11 million people and thrown out of this country? >> no. and that's thing, you had, you had eight years to take care of this, and you didn't. and the american people are fed up to here with this nonsense, and the lawlessness that has occurred in this country. >> but the president did deport 2 million people. >> no, there's reports out there that there's double counting. that border patrol. >> you're saying obama did not deport 2 million people? >> absolutely. there's reports that are out there that said these are numbers that are counted through border patrol and then ice gets ahold of them and they're counted once again. >> we have to move on. >> there's no question enforcement has to happen. there's just no question. and i don't know why this has
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become a democrat/republican thing. the question is priorities, and what priorities are you going to set. you can set them as the criminals. everyone will agree with that. everyone. there's not a single person who defends criminality. the question is whether the pool of people -- you are not going to deport your way out of this. there are 12 million of them. instead of spending so much time of saying the system is broken, the reason we focus on is there going to be a pathway to citizenship, what kind of country do we want to be? do we really want to separate families? this was easy. this was easy for trump. it had political power, but it's not going to solve the issue that we have in cities and states throughout this country. and so it's cruel, but it's not going to solve the problem. >> we will continue this, no doubt. gloria, thank you. jeff, great to have you all.
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just ahead the reaction live in mexico city where you might imagine they see things very differently. we'll be right back. vehicles out here. ere are oved that has everything to do with the people in here. their training is developed by the same company who designed, engineered, and built the cars. they've got the parts, tools, and know-how to help keep your ford running strong. 35,000 specialists all across america. no one knows your ford better than ford. and ford service. right now, get the works! a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection and more -- for $29.95 or less.
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labor secretary, robert reich. and paul babu. let's start with secretary reich. officials repeatedly emphasize this is not an ex spanning of existing laws. are they right? >> it certainly is an expansion of existing laws to the extent that there is on the books and in the plan more enforcement, more enforcers and a much greater dragnet kind of much more discretion with regard to who to go up against and who to find. a lot of due process violations in terms of suspicions and beliefs on the part of immigration enforcers that really are not going to be put to the test being in front of courts or judges or magistrates. but the thing that really worries me, anderson, is that
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this entire initiative is based on two donald trump lies. that he sold the american people. one that crime is going way up in the united states, and the second that illegal immigration is going way up in the united states. when, in fact the truth is crime is going down and illegal immigration has been going down. why this is sudden a priority, it's a priority because he lied to the american people and the american people believed it. >> sheriff j is this based on lie? >> it's quite dramatic to start out the interview that way. i can tell you what's shocking act this i the fact that the law is going to be enforced. there shouldn't be any big surprise. there's nothing dramatic about this. laws are enforced on you and me as american citizens each and every day. yet, what is so shocking is the fact that we haven't had the law enforced on illegal immigration for years and years. and there's been all this
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differed action. there's been these carve outs, and now we have a president who's been elected who may this key plank in his effort to get elected. and he's delivering on his promise. the law hasn't -- >> mr. sheriff -- >> he's setting priorities within the laws, and who's targeting who of the 14 million illegals? the 1 million criminal illegals, 74 % of which have felony convictions. those aren't regular people in our neighborhood. a lot of these, it's serious criminals. they've been convicted, not charged, convicted of these crimes. >> mr. sheriff, if i might -- >> go ahead. >> i just want to ask the sheriff one simple question. that is obviously everybody in the united states is concerned about avoiding criminality and making sure that criminals are punished. that's not the issue. the real question -- >> it is the issue. -- it's not the issue. >> it is the issue, because --
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>> mr. sheriff -- >> let him finish his question. >> if i may, you said i want to know what your priorities are, and also whether this in any way interferes with other priorities you may have as sheriff in terms of other criminality. i just want to know as a practical matter, are americans being served by this, and if so, exactly how? >> first you start out with a drama-filled attack calling the president three times a liar. i'm here to tell you if you're so concerned about this now and everybody in the prior segment was agreeing with me up and down three ways to sunday, of course, we're all concerned about the criminal illegals. then why the hell haven't you done something about it the last eight years. stood up for the american people, put us first and prioritized our safety and security? the failures of this administration have put us in this very situation we're in today. the lawlessness that existed, and that's why we have a clear
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mandate with a new president going in a different direction. >> here's my concern, and the reason i'm concerned about the lies, about increase in crime and also increasing illegal immigration. because it takes our attention off a lot of other things in this country. we've got a huge crisis in this country with regard to everything from white collar crime, a lot of executives in boardrooms violating the crime left and right. we have a lot of problems in this country with regard to basing social services, education. we need health care. we need better public health. i mean, why are we so concerned -- >> i have an answer -- >> wait a minute. let me finish, among two fundamental lies about growing crime and growing illegal immigration. why should that suddenly be the priority? >> we're up to, like, eight lies now. >> i said two lies, and you have not addressed either of them. >> you're so keen on requestias questions. have you ever, secretary reich,
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met with, talked to american citizens who have had a family member killed, murdered by a criminal illegal? have you? >> no, i haven't. >> i have. but -- mr. sheriff -- >> you need to listen to me. >> why are you assuming that the two particular facts that i've put forth that we -- i said that there was a lie that crime is increasing and -- >> no. >> and there's a lie that illegal immigration is increasing in. >> here's what i'll tell you, mr. secretary -- >> why are those not important lies? >> the american people are sick and tired of being ignored and everybody else trumpeting the priorities of people who are not from our country who got here illegally to begin with and then victimized good, hard working tax paying american citizens. enough is enough. those days are over. law and order is going to be restored. >> sheriff, i guess the point secretary reich is trying to make and maybe you could respond to directly is illegal
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immigration the number one crime issue that you face? i mean, obviously you're in arizona. but -- >> yes. >> but throughout the rest of the country, secretary reich is saying overall crime has been going down for decades and illegal immigration has in the last several years been going down as well. >> i'll tell you this. anderson, you've been down to arizona. remember the primaries in new hampshire, people talking about heroin. people have meth issues and cocaine. where do you think most of these drugs are coming from? they're coming through counties like mine in the south western portion of arizona. it's not just marijuana. my sheriff's office led the largest drug busts in the history of arizona. $3 billion against a cartel. the president made the priority. we're going to secure the border not just because of illegal immigration but the drug smuggling that's destroying and harming every country and the
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youth across this country. also more important than both those issues, what about national security? what about people from countries of interest that would use this porous unsecured border to come into this country and harm our country? that alone should be the priority to secure this border, and the past president has failed to do that. this president will do that. secure the border, put americans, our families and our national security first for once. >> sheriff -- >> let me just say, there are a lot of problems in this country having to do the drugs, and there are a lot of problems in this country having to do with national security, but honestly, if you're looking at trends and troubling trends, crime and illegal immigration are not among the most troubling trends we have. by any stretch of the imagination. >> maybe for you because you haven't talked to families victim news miezed. >> i'm talking about data and truth. i'm talking about what's happening in this country. why do you have to live in a
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fact free universe? >> why do you live in an ivory tower? >> just because donald trump wants us to believe what's not true? >> there you go again. >> we'll leave it there. gentlemen, thank you very much. i appreciate your different perspectives. lawmakers back home are facing tough questions from angry crowds at town halls. what president trump tweeted about the protesters and reaction. that's next. your brokerage fees. about fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $6.95 per trade? uhhh- and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $6.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab.
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well, for the first time, president trump publicly and directly condemned anti-semitism after weeks of growing pressure. one of the voices urging him to speak out was his rival, hillary clinton. >> this was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms. >> reporter: president trump speaking out today against a wave of anti-semitism during a visit to the smith sewn yum
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museum. >> the anti-semitic threats are horrible. and are painful. and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil. >> reporter: the president's condemnation of bomb threats and vandalism of jewish sites across the country came after days of enduring criticism for virtually silence on anti--semitic threats. his comments came hours after his political rival, hillary clinton called on him to act. everyone must speak out, starting with the president. at two press conferences last week, the president stopped short of denouncing the attacks of violence and threats. he berated a reporter from a jewish magazine for asking the question. >> okay. sit down, i understand the rest of your question. so here's the story, folks. number one, i am the least anti-semitic person you've ever
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seen in your light the least -- in your entire life. number two, the least racist person. in fact, we did very well -- >> quiet quiet quiet. >> reporter: sean spicer defended the president. >> i think the president's going to do what he's talked about since election night. it's through deed and action, talk about how we can unify this country and speak out against hate, anti-semitism, racism. >> you heard spicer talking about deed and action, has the president directed the government to do something specific at this stage? >> reporter: as far as we can tell, there's been not much action. of course he did talk about this, today, which was a step forward from being silent for so many days, but he now has the full grasp of the government in his reach, the justice department, other agencies. the white house has not said that he's directed any of them to look into any of these incidence of violence as hate
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crimes. now they are of course watching this. this is something the white house says the president is keenly aware of and concerned about, but no word tonight that he's asking his justice department to actually look into these as hate crimes or anything else. >> all right, jeff zeleny, thanks. more on what president trump said today and the very different reactions to it, we'll be right back. une. well, a 103 yeah, 103. well, let me ask you guys. how long did it take you two to save that? a long time. then it's a fortune. well, i'm sure you talk to people all the time who think $100k is just pocket change. right now we're just talking to you. i told you we had a fortune. yes, you did. getting closer to your investment goals starts with a conversation. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today. man: for every social occasion.ntial so the the broom said, "sorry i'm late. i over-swept."
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as you saw a moment ago, president trump made his first visit to the african-american museum. he called the tour a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, hatred and intolerance. he said the museum is very special. people love it. and he had this to say about racial issues in the united states. >> well, we're a very divided nation, and we have been for many, many years, decades, i mean, you go back to the founding, and i would just like to see if we could bring people together, as so many bad things happening. there is something going on that doesn't allow it to fully heal. sometimes it gets better, and then it busts apart.
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but we want to have it get very much better, get unified and stay together. >> joining us now is former george w. bush director and former obama administration official van jones. we heard the president say that we're a divided nation, that we need to be more unified to get there. do you see, what sort of steps do you want to see. i hear some say he hasn't done enough. but to be honest, he's only been in office 30 days, what would you like to see him do? >> so far, he doesn't seem to be a natural at it yet, but, you know, presidents can grow in office. when lyndon johnson was first elected, you would never have thought lyndon johnson would be the kind of champion that he became. you have to leave open the possibility that something can happen. he doesn't seem to be a natural at it yet. that speech that he gave, he was talking about something as
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horrific as anti-jewish bigotry. it didn't seem to connect with his heart yet. right now, poverty is affecting whites in larger numbers. an opioid epidemic is hurting the white community. there's common pain between blacks and whites that could lead to common purpose. and if trump wants to be a truly transformational president, i think the door's open, but i haven't seen it, it doesn't seem to be his top priority yet. >> how do you see it, and what would you like to see? >> well, i think that the common pain and common purpose that van just talked about is the reason why president trump became, candidate trump became the president of the united states. because the issues that are facing my brothers and sisters in appalachia are similar to the issues in detroit.
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that's why you saw the first lady with the first lady of israel, mrs. netanyahu, to show the similarities of the struggles, with the black community and the jewish community. and that's why i thought it was important today, on john lewis's birthday, to go to this museum and emphatically denounce bigotry and anti-semitism once and for all from his mouth. where the president goes matters, and what he says matters, on this issue, he has been very, very certain and steadfast in his comments today which i think should be applauded. so, as we move forward, i hope president trump continues on his efforts to unify this country and to affect the black community and all communities. those affected by poverty, the
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bad economy, and fragile communities need leadership and they need this president to make things better. >> do you see, van, efforts to unify the country? >> look, i think that donald trump has a problem. and i don't know if he's really thought it all the way through. i hope that he does. donald trump's campaign was conducted in such a way that anti-jewish bigots, who i'm sure he would not want to be associated with, racists, neo-nazis and others who i'm sure he would not want to be associated with, took great comfort in this campaign. that's got to thourt know that, but it's true. if you look at their websites, they almost see him as an icon, and that adds a burden to his shoulders, but it's there. he's got to be more aggressive than he has been in pushing back on those people who are trying to ride his coattails. there's this alt-right, which is basically neo-nazis and white supremacists.
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they are gaining in numbers. and some of those people point to donald trump as their hero. which means he has an opportunity rare in that office to be a special champion against racism. a special champion against anti-jewish bigotry and other forms of intolerance. he has a lot of people talking to him. i hope he'll rise into that role. if he does, he has an extra burden. if he doesn't meet it, i think he'll be sending a signal that maybe he's not as upset about these guys. >> paris, do you see him having an extra burden because of some of the people who supported him whether he wanted that support or not? >> i think that the extra burden he has is to prove himself to be the man that all of his supporters and the 8 % of african americans and almost 13% of african american males who voted for him know him to be,
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and that's a champion for those in fragile communities. i want him to be the champion for detroit, baltimore, appalachia. i want him to be that champion. the burden is to do the things he wants to do to help these fragile communities. i don't know what more he can say than when he says, and i quote, we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and bigotry in all forms. it's horrible and painful and sad reminders of all the work that still must be done to root out hate, prejudice and evil. that's what the president said. >> paris, van, what more could he do? >> first of all, i think that sometimes when you do something late rather than early, it casts a certain is he doing it because of political pressure. what he said was great. he should say it more frequently
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and earlier. if some of the attacks had come down and it turned out a muslim person was attacking americans, i think the president would have moved quicker. i think he has more of a hair trigger when it comes to islamic forms of terrorism as opposed to other forms of he's got to be a president who's against hateful activity no matter what race, no matter what color, no matter what religion, and then i think people will feel more comfortable. i think when you have such a quick trigger on some and a slow trigger on others it doesn't look good. >> we've got to leave it there. van jones, paris denard, appreciate your perspectives. just ahead, republican lawmakers holding town halls, taking the heat. plus late reaction from president trump on some of those protesters when we continue.
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to esurance could save hundreds. so if you switch to esurance, saving is a pretty safe bet. auto and home insurance for the modern world. esurance. an allstate company. click or call. congress is off this week with many house and senate members back in home states and districts. now, in recent weeks lawmakers have been faced with angry crowds and protesters at some of these public events. earlier today president trump attacked the motivations of the people attending some town hall meetings, tweeting "the so-called angry crowds in home districts of some republicans are actually in numerous cases planned out by liberal activists. sad." so what's the reaction? kyung lah joins us now with the latest. kyung, is the president wrong
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when he says this is organized? because a lot of folks are showed one signs and it seems organized. >> they're not being directly organized. and that's the nuance here. is that this is very much, anderson, a grassroots movement. but they are following the same guide. it is a guide called the indivisible guide. we tracked it back to the people who wrote it. they wrote it shortly after the election. they put it out. it became a viral sensation. these are former d.c. congressional staffers. and everyone's following the same manual. so they're all doing the same thing. and then what you get are these scenes that you're seeing here played out across the country at these town halls. they know to show up. they know to ask certain questions. and then you get to hear what we heard tonight at virginia congressman dave frat's town hall. take a listen. >> eight years of obstruction. >> you stole the supreme court pick. you stole it. >> don't let -- >> is there a single unifying issue among the protesters?
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>> there's no one particular issue per se when you think of, you know, is it health care? yes. it's definitely obamacare. we're hearing a lot of talk about trump and his taxes, whether there should be an investigation. we're hearing a lot about women's rights, frankly. a lot about schooling children, betsy devos. all of this. but if there is one unifying thing, it is that they are anti-trump. the agenda here is to stop trump's agenda. so that certainly, anderson, that is carried across all of these town halls. >> kyung lah, thanks very much. we'll be right back. more news ahead. and safe driver,car, that help them save on their car insurance. any questions? -yeah. -how do you go to the bathroom? great. any insurance-related questions? -mm-hmm. -do you have a girlfriend? uh, i'm actually focusing on my career right now, saving people nearly $600 when they switch, so...
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just a quick reminder before we go, special event coming up tomorrow night. it's a cnn debate. candidates for the democratic national committee chair. who will actually head the party? dana bash and chris cuomo are going to moderate that debate. it's really the future of the democratic party at stake. up for grabs. who can make the case for a comeback in 2020? tomorrow at 10:00 eastern after a two-hour "360." time to hand it over to don lemon and "cnn tonight." i'll see you tomorrow night at 8:00. millions of people could be facing deportation. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. the trump administration laying out plans for what could be massive expansion in the numbers of people being deported. as protesters fly their flag from lady liberty with a new executive order on immigration due any day now. meanwhile, congressional republicans across the country facing heated town hall crowds in their districts. >> do your job! do your job.
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