was extremist. >> they used it as an excuse to frame me as enemy of the state effectively. hegseth served at guantanamo bay and defended water boarding and defended u.s. troops accused of murder, with eddie gallagher who posed with a corpse of an isis detainee. >> he would go on to promote gallagher. >> he praised january 6th insurrectionists. >> these are people that understand first principles. they love fred om and they love free markets. >> hegseth recently moved to tennessee with his third wife and seven children where he says he now lives on a farm. >> after the initial shock of hegseth's announcement. several current and former defense officials were critical of this pick. one senior military official told me it's not a serious choice and another top

pentagon official highlights hegseth's lack of experience and working in defense policy. erin, you have to remember this is a massive bureaucracy with a global presence of some 3 million personnel. at the same time assuming that hegseth is confirmed, that military official told me, quote, he's the president's choice and we're going to have to make it work. erin? >> alex, thank you very much and thanks to all of you for joining us. anderson starts now. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ tonight on "360," the president- elect names matt gaetz, and to the house ethics committee which until moments ago still was. also tonight what so many of the nominees have in common mainly ties to fox news is frequent guests or fox hosts, geraldo rivera joins me to talk about the nominees. what happened to the husband and father that went missing while kayaking in a wisconsin lake

in august. he may have staged his disappearance and is urging the missing man to come forward. good evening, thanks for joining us. we begin with the fact that the next attorney general of the united states if president- elect trump has his way was someone until tonight facing an ethics probe. he's florida congressman matt gaetz whom the president- elect named today and the word was applies because within the last hour gaetz has now resigned from congress which ends a house ethics committee investigation into him looking into allegations that he may have and these are the committee's own words, i quote, engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts for favors with individuals with whom he had a personal relationship and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. he denies the allegations. he was also investigated by the justice department, the one he might soon be in charge of concerning sex crimes allegations which he also denies. the doj ultimately decided not to pursue criminal charges against him.

this is who the president- elect who himself is about to see two federal cases against him go away chose to be the nation's top law enforcement official. here's some of the reaction at least from one democratic senator. >> matt gaetz is dangerously unqualified. this is going to be a red- alert moment for american democracy. matt gaetz is being nominated for one reason and one reason only because he will implement donald trump's transition of the department of justice from an agency that stands up for all of us to an agency that is simply an arm of the white house designed to persecute and prosecute trump's political enemies. >> senate republicans meantime were not of one voice on the appointment. >> matt gaetz as a.g. >> i don't know about that. >> do you have concerns about it? >> we'll see. >> lindsey graham, ranking member of the judiciary committee not exactly taking a

stand. chuck grassley had no answer when asked about gaetz, he stood there in silence. john cornyn, a former judge said i'm still trying to absorb all of this. john kennedy when asked said happy thanksgiving. senator lisa murkowski said that gaetz is a, quote, unserious candidate. if i wanted to make a joke, i'd wait for george santos to be named. others who publicly clashed with congressman gaetz over the years were more sanguine. >> i completely trust president trump's decision making on this one, but at the same time he's got to come to congress and sell himself. -- the senate and sell himself. there are questions out there and he has to answer those questions and hopefully he's able to answer the questions right. >> so that's senator mark wayne mullen of oklahoma today. it's the same senator who once said this about congressman gaetz. >> he was accused of sleeping with an underaged

girl. there's a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the house floor and all of us walked away of the girls he slept with and he told us hoe how he crushed e.d. medicine and with an energy drink so he could go all night. let's just show what he said now about gaetz. >> i completely trust president trump's decision making on this one, but at the same time he's got to come to congresscongress sell himself -- or to the senate and sell himself. there are questions out there and he has to answer those questions and hopefully he's able to answer the questions right. >> all right. >> now the president- elect's pick for attorney general, allegations are not investigations are not all moot all because republican senators will bend to the new president who after all helped him regain control of the chamber or the president-elect will try to if

he can skip the confirmation process altogether and name him an acting official if he can figure out how to do that, something he's talked about. >> it's easier to make moves. >> so you are going to shake up? >> some and some not. some are doing a fantastic job. i like acting because i can move so quickly. gives me more flexibility. >> that was him talking about acting secretaries -- or heads of departments back in 2019. either way, confirmed or not, if the president elect wants to make matt gaetz attorney general he very likely can or as elon musk today said on social media, the hammer of justice is coming. the president elect picked former hawaii congresswoman tulsi gabbard, a former iraq war veteran who expressed sympathetic views to russia and syria. it's only wednesday. two more days to the weekend.

caitlin collins joins us. >> four more years, anderson. >> just to get through the week. how much of a surprise is matt gaetz? i think i know. quite a surprise. >> in a world where people are used to being surprised by their boss and donald trump and basically everyone in his orbit kind of operates that on a daily basis and four years, anderson, this one was even a surprise to people working on the transition. i've been in palm beach, and i just got back this morning and i've been covering it closely and talking to a lot of people, this is not a name who had come up for almost anyone in any of the discussions or interviews or talks that they've been having about who was going to head the justice department? obviously, one of trump's biggest priorities and one that he's been thinking about for months now before he was even reelected. he was thinking about who he would put in this position. so this was a shock to essentially all of them and that was the big question tonight about what this looks like going forward. anderson, it was 24 hours ago that trump was unhappy with

everyone that had been brought to him as a potential attorney general. he had interviewed them. one of them was described as disastrous to me, and he was wish casting to who he was going to put in this position and the two qualifications that he wanted was someone who fiercely loyal to him and someone at the justice department and that's he got in matt gaetz. of all of the decisions, christie noem was considered to be head of homeland security and in the light of matt gaetz' nomination that seems like a rational choice. do we know if the president- elect knows about getting matt gaetz

confirmed? >> it's not clear. i was asking people about this, yes, this is a 53- seat republican majority and donald trump gets confirmed in that environment and it's not the republican- led senate that it was when he took office even in 2016. this is a senate that is very much in his making. a lot of these are his hand picked people that ran in races that he backed and that are now going to be voting in the cabinet now that he's in office. that's the question tonight. there are still voices out there. people like lisa murkowski or a bill cassidy of louisiana who seem to have skepticism not just when asked about this pick for attorney general and pete hegseth to run the department of defense. so that's going to be the question here because essentially as a republican senator is it viable to buck the republican candidate on his pick, and if you're triaging and picking just one of them to break with him on, which one do they pick? that is going to be a real question that is facing senate republicans sooner

rather than later. also, i would note the senate leadership fight with john thune coming out on top. it's quite a day to be john thune and to know you are now the senate republican majority leader that will be dealing and advising your members on all of these questions. >> caitlin collins, thank you. >> joining us is senator blumenthal that is expected to run the hearings if there is one. the former attorney general of connecticut. senator blumenthal, what is your reaction to the prospect of matt gaetz becoming attorney general? >> the only reason for matt gaetz's nomination is he's a trump puppet. his loyalty to trump is the only credible reason that he has been proposed. he will weaponize the department of justice for retribution, donald trump's words. he is highly dangerous as a potential national security risk. remember, anderson, as you well know the department of justice is in charge of

prosecuting espionage, terrorism, sabotage, all kinds of national security threats, and i am hopeful that republicans will take this major test of their integrity, their devotion to country above politics and stand up to donald trump, but i am very clear- eyed based on their very unreassuring history that they're going to cave, unfortunately, to donald trump's will. >> so you think he could pass senate confirmation? >> he could pass if republicans fail to vote the way many of them are saying their consciences would dictate. there are a lot of furrowed brows and wringing of hand, but we've seen this movie before. in pack, we've been through it with the mueller investigation, with with the impeachment, two of them,

procedures and republicans have failed to live up to their conscience and conviction and put devotion of country ahead of politics. >> he wants his senate allies to push through his nominees even through a recess appointment which many people may not know about is in the weeds and they would essentially bypass the confirmation process, what, if anything, can democrats do given that you're in the minority? >> i think he's going to at least begin the confirmation process. we have tools to expose his short comings, a senate hearing will happen. we're not going to rely just on the fbi, we'll see. we'll do our own factual investigation. we'll do tough questioning and try to elevate this issue to the american public so they can see that the security risk and the potential retribution is on donald trump and ultimately on republican colleagues to stop. >> but this is -- i mean, you

know, this is the american public who voted donald trump into office and he was talking about all this stuff in the election. it's not as if this is a, you know, it's a surprising choice in its zaniness, but it's not particularly surprising given all of the things he has said during the actual campaign. i mean, nobody should be surprised that he, you know, wants retribution or would set up the justice department for that, i don't think, would they? >> you know, that's a really important point. no one should be surprised by his defiance of the rule of law and the norms of our democracy, but it's one thing for him to talk about during the campaign. it's another for it to happen in real life and republicans have a majority now. it's on them to stop this degradation and potential danger to the country and we're going

to fight hard to bring this issue to the american people and show that this unserious candidate could have very serious consequences in terms of going after political enemies and silencing protests and all kinds of national security threats that we need to be very careful to avoid in our democracy. >> senator blumenful that, thanks very much. perspective from lift our voices gretchen carlson and scott jennings and former pennsylvania congressman, charlie dent, one- time chairman of the house ethics committee. jeff toobin, surprising, not surprising? >> it is surprising, but i think what i'm reminded of today is eight years ago when president-elect trump picked jeff sessions to be his attorney general, very conservative, very distinguished a senator. he'd been a senator for a long time, he'd been the u.s.

attorney, but he committed one sin that was unforgivable which was he recused himself from the russia investigation which was absolutely the proper thing to do, deferred the case to hishis deputy, rod rosen stein stein who appointed robert mueller and an affliction for trump. he wants an attorney general who will under no circumstances ever turn over anything to a special prosecutor and do his bidding and protect trump whose engagement with the legal system has been a constant of his entire life. >> alyssa, were you surprised with this? >> i think it your point, this is what he ran on. i think he would have gone with a subtle name and maybe a loyalist, but not as polarizing as matt gaetz. the question is do senate republicans in particular truly believe in the constitutional advise and consent rule. i think can think of three that could stand up, a todd young, a

susan murkowski and cassidy and there is not a single senator who thinks this is the right choice and a qualified choice and someone of moral character to be attorney general. the question is there a political will there and do they want to cross donald trump at this point in time. my only run- in with matt gaetz, in the outer oval office he was holding a folder and i said what's in that folder just so i would see what he was going to give pot president of the united states. it was about joe scarborough -- the family of this woman who died trajicily and no involvement and that's the character and the judgment of this individual. house republicans know it, and. >> that's chilling if that guy is the guy that's going to be running the department of justice. >> i mean, just the stunning lack of judgment, character and integrity. >> i actually do know matt gaetz because i did work with

him on my bipartisan legislation passing two laws, the biggest story of today is that senator john thune is the majority leader and why is that important? because rick scott is not. that would have been all wheels off the rails with maga. the responsibility is the on senator thune to lead the troops into making good decisions. up against recess appointments. remember, trump earlier this week said to all three candidates who wanted to be senate majority leader, will you all agree to do recess appointments and they all said yes. so will senator thune now backtrack on that with a pete hegseth up for defense? with a matt gaetz up for attorney general? the other interesting thing is house ethics committee, two days away from releasing the report on matt gaetz and then he resigns tonight so the big question in my mind tonight is will that ethics committee give that report to the senate before the confirmation? >> the point about recess

appointments is that if that's the way it proceeds there is no confirmation hearing and the possible embarrassment of these nominees who don't really know a lot about their subject won't have to be subject to questioning. >> scott, i saw you on cnn earlier moments after the gaetz news broke. you seemed surprised. do you think this is a smart choice? >> well, smart -- interesting question. i mean, i think based on what i've heard tonight gaetz starts out at a deficit in the senate that would be probably difficult to overcome. it doesn't mean maybe a confirmation hearing couldn't change mind, but it strikes me that this is an uphill climb to get confirmed which puts you in this recess idea which candidly will be difficult for him to do meaning the president-elect. so i think everything he's announced which i don't really have a problem with anything that he's announced, this gaetz thing strikes me as the most problematic if you're looking at it from a legislative

affairs matter and one question i have i heard matt gaetz resigned from the congress effective today, but he resigned from this congress. he just got elected to the next congress, and i don't know exactly how that works. i mean, assume he's still entitled to show up and be sworn in in january. i've called a couple of people to ask about. >> it is a rather unique situation. he resigned having just gotten elected to the next one. >> yet again, donald trump makes history. >> yes. absolutely. there are lots of questions swirling. my general view is of the people that have been deemed controversial, i actually think hegseth and gabbard have a more than a fighting chance at being confirmed. gaetz is the one who i would think starts under the line and is going to have a more problematic path if it advances that far. >> congressman dent,

do you share scott's belief that this might be too far for enough senators, republican senators? >> oh, goodness yes. i mean is is a gob smackinglysmackingly nomination. i would be less surprised in the words of chevy chase if my face was stapled to the floor. this is a bad nomination. i can't imagine any circumstance under which matt gaetz would be confirmed. i suspect donald trump would have to withdraw this nomination and by the way, to answer scott's question if gaetz resigned today and decided to be sworn in in the new year, then the ethics committee could still release that report. they have the report and so, by the way, i'm sure that's the reason why he resigned. they were probably about to drop sanctions on him and these reports are pretty darn ugly? and because he resigned they wouldn't release the report anyway? >> the house loses jurisdiction over any member once that member is no longer serving, but i'm curious to see if the

ethics committee might release it anyway, and i say that because this investigation was unusual and at the ethics committee several months ago announced what specifically they were investigating and not investigating about matt gaetz, they never talk about an ongoing investigations because he antagonized them. so i am just curious to see if they might release it anyway. i don't think it's ever been done before, but this is kind of unprecedented. >> scott? >> anderson, one thing about this appointment and some of the other appointments, you know, donald trump feels -- he's feeling his oats. he's feeling powerful. >> that's for sure. >> yeah. he doesn't feel like he owes anybody anything. he obviously doesn't feel like he needs to negotiate any of these things even with the senate that has to confirm them. i mean, this is a guy who is feeling fully powerful as the president-elect and certainly within the republican party, and so if this is an attempt to provoke a showdown, who is going to actually run this party and will you let me do it,

it's an -- it sets up a very, very interesting showdown over a very controversial subject matter. again, we'll see how this all plays out. i have the feeling, the sensation that something else is afoot here, but that to me is trump is signaling to washington, d.c. , i'm not running again and i'm beholden to no one. i'm not beholden to the congress and beholden to the republican party, and i'm going to do what i want to do and i'm not negotiating my hard core positions with anybody. >> i want to hear what you think is afoot, actually. we'll take a short break and we'll continue with this conversation because it's pretty big. later, a former trump friend, geraldo rivera will join us and has talked to appointees of former fox colleagues.

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tonight's breaking news, eclipsed a photo-op which feels like it happened three decades ago. the president- elect returning since he left in a cloud and under a huff nearly four years ago. his meeting with president biden described by karine jean- pierre as gracious and substantive and i almost thought she said very

demure, but she didn't. ancient history now that the president elect has picked one of his defenders, matt gaetz to be the next attorney general of the united states. we should note that cnn has just confirmed what we were talking about before the break, that the ethics committee was due to meet to release a report about gaetz. back now with the panel. this also, there's another theory which you do want to talk about. >> my theory is this. listen, i don't think gaetz will get confirmed in the senate and even tommy tuberville is stunned. >> you think senators will stand up. >> there is a potential that his nomination will be blocked, but listen, what's happening, we are not talking about other controversial picks which may not be as glaringa as matt gaetz. tulsi gabbard, there are others who are horrified by this. this is someone who traveled to syria and tried to whitewash his crimes against syrians. that's very concerning to a lot of people that she

would literally be overseeing the entire intel apparatus and pete hegseth. a veteran, grateful for his service, nice guy, i've met him and this is not a person prepared to lead a 3 million-person workforce at the pentagon. he was elected and scott talks about this and if he's trying to ruffle fthers and get change at the pentagon, you don't set someone in who has never stepped foot in the pentagon. the joint chiefs will run the place and this is not a qualified person for this role. >> is it possible that gaetz announcement was made to deflect and make these others seem more palatable? >> potentially, but, look, i think trump is just going hard core with his loyalists. going to more on pete hegseth. look, he enthusiastically supported and supported trump's baseless can claims about the 2020 election, and defended the rioters who said they were fighting for freedom and

saying he would deny women combat roles so i guess we're really going back to the dark ages now. even his own colleagues at fox seem to be incredibly surprised and steve doocy who i used to sit next to on "fox & friends" before i was gone for doing nothing wrong. >> which is a much smaller. >> by the way, he's done a ton decorated veteran. that would have been plausible. >> i have a theory. did donald trump nominate matt gaetz to be attorney general because he wants matt gaetz to be attorney general? [ laughter ] he plays these games to win, and we'll see what the senate does, but i don't think there is any sophisticated strategy involving other candidates here. this is his candidate. he's going to do what the justice department what trump has said he wants done at the justice department, and i think it's as simple as that.

>> scott, do you think moderate senate republicans will get onboard with some of the foreign policy positions gabbard has taken like alissa mentioned russia with syria. >> those are something she'll have to answer in the confirmation hearings and there is a significant chunk at the hearings that will not have her world view on a lot of these issues. now, whether they're able to accept someone with a different world view and go ahead and judge and qualify and say the president deserves his staff and vote to confirm, that's an open question, but i do think her confirmation hearings will be more difficult. not as difficult as gaetz, but certainly a rocky ride. on hegseth, i have a different opinion upon i think it's a fine choice. i think other republicans look at the way the pentagon has been run with the last four years and they say are you happy with the last four years, given the disastrous afghanistan pullout and the fact that we participated with a gaza pier with was a

pr stunt that cost $300 million and the life of a u.s. soldier and they say maybe it's time for an outsider to come in and put a fresh set of eyes. hegseth is a veteran, iraq, afghanistan, two bronze stars, princeton, harvard. look, you can do in my opinion than finding someone who has been as dedicated to this country as pete has been. so i have a different opinion on him than the rest of the panel, but again, he has to show up and show his qualifications of management because it is largely a management opinion, and they want a shake- up and that's what they gave him. >> on hegseth, the pentagon is a huge bureaucracy and there's criticism of the size of it, the bloat of it. is he ready for that sort of management and that sort of maneuvering in such an organization? >> well, look, i appreciate mr.

hegseth's service to our country, but i remember serving with people like bob gates who was the secretary of defense and bill cohen. these people were really very serious, substantive, experienced people, and i just -- look, the va would have been a better place for hegseth. the pentagon is not the right place, and if i can say one thing, too, about tulsi gabbard's appointment. i served with her. when i was chairman of the ethics committee i had ended my term and she called me because she wanted to go to syria. she wanted to me to approve the travel and they were going to try to use her as a propaganda tool, and she went anyway, but i would have advised her not to. i was surprised she wanted to go given what was going on, and i know she also opposed the assassination of suleimani which is one of trump's big achievements while he was president, and i think she called it unlawful and unconstitutional, an

unconstitutional killing. her world view, i think, is not even in agreement with donald trump's view in many cases. >> there's also now the outstanding question of robert q. kennedy, jr. , and where he may end up. people had scoffed about the idea of him heading hhs, but -- >> i mean, if it is true that trump is seriously considering recess appointments where none of these people have to be confirmed, then he can put them anywhere he wants. whether he really, you know, this was sort of a last- minute marriage between kennedy and trump. you know, the issues that kennedy has talked about especially about food is something that trump has absolutely no interest in. you know, the mcdonald's connoisseur that he is, and whether he really wants to expend political capital on kennedy's behalf is, i think, much more an open question than

these other appointments. >> everyone, thanks very much. appreciate it. up next, want a job in the trump administration? there's one resume builder certainly to get you noticed by the president- elect, a stint on fox it seems. veteran journalist and former fox anchor geraldo rivera joins us next.

matt gaetz was once ay from kwebts presence on the returning president's favorite tv network fox news. sometimes he shared with his fellow nominees, including tulsi gabbard, fox contributor and pete hege september 11th seth, his pick for defense of defense and tom homan tap as contributor and it goes back to ohn on. joining us is geraldo rivera who was at fox news. what do you make about

matt gaetz for attorney general? >> i think it's a horrible choice. i think he's a real creep. i think the house ethics committee, if he does, indeed go through with this nomination should release its report. he's accused, credibly, of sex trafficking a minor and obstruction of justice. just, i can't believe that the president picked this guy who gives me the creeps just to look at him after knowing what he did -- ask kevin mccarthy, the former house speaker what he thinks of matt gaetz, to have this guy releasing him in the justice department archives, files is going to dig up his own cases and you know, with confidential interviews with purported victims. i just think it's a -- i don't understand why president trump -- why president- elect trump would pick someone so absolutely obnoxiousobnoxiou s it

casts a pall over all of his other controversial, but i think defensible choices. >> gaetz obviously denies the allegations and the doj decided to to not move forward with charges. what would the department of justice would do, the career people at the department of justice would do if matt gaetz ran the place? i would think there would be a fair amount of resignations, but maybe that would be something gaetz would like because it would allow them to bring in more people, new people. >> well, i think that this is where the hammer of retribution and revenge will fall, anderson. i think it will be in the department of justice. there's such resentment within the trump camp for all of these prosecutions against jack smith and so forth. i think that this is where he's going to go in there and i disagree that there will be resignations. i think people love those

jobs, they're careerists, they hang in, they've prosecuted these cases. they feel righteous about it, but i think he's going to go in there flailing around, and i think that the people would be jumping out of the windows when they see this guy, and to your point about him not being charged on these cases, that's why i think the house ethics committee report is so critical. he has now resigned from congress so the house ethics committee has lost jurisdiction over him. you know, i think that's why he did it. he did it because that release of that document was imminent, within days. so now do we not get to see this report that the house ethics committee says is so incendiary? now this is going to be the chief law enforcement officer. remember bill barr, i think, who was the most important man in washington÷÷washington president trump's first term. i believe that he held the whole administration together. it is a vital role. it's a political role, plus a legal role, and now you

have this -- this probably the most controversial member, certainly the most controversial male member of the house of representatives, you know, and now he's going to be the attorney general, the president's lawyer? i -- i just think that this is really a bad move by president- elect trump. you have a mandate, but you didn't get a mandate to get creepy. >> trump had said where is my roy cohen according to a number of reports. maybe he thinks this guy will be his roy cohen. the choice of pete hegseth, you know him obviously, from fox. he has a long history of service to the country in the military, hasn't run an organization of this size and this complexity. what do you think of him? what do you think of this as a choice and do you think, you know, even if you like him personally, he's capable and will be successful running that organization? >> i've spoken from my years asas a war correspondent, i have

very good contacts in the military, and i've spoken to retired, very high ranking officers with the deep pentagon and war fighting experience, and they voice misgivings about him running this 3 million- strong department, so i get that, but i know pete hegseth, major pete hegseth, a two-time awardee of the bronze star. this is a combat veteran who loves other veterans, who has a wonderful rapport with military families. i think it would be a very, very steep learning curve for major hegseth, but i think if anyone can do it, he can do it. he's courageous, he's patriotic, smart, well educated and cares deeply about it and certainly i look at him, and i see a kid, but he's in his mid-40s. he's done a lot. it was -- it was great being opposite with him on the couch. we never agreed on very much, but i think that he can

do it. same with tulsi gabbard. i think that the congresswoman can do it. another combat veteran. i think that she also would have a tough time learning all of the dni stuff with all those multiple agencies reporting and so forth, but i think that she's also a sen incere person. mike huckabee, the new designated ambassador to israel. mike believes the jews should get the whole of the holy land and there shouldn't be a two- state solution. i believe that he is sch a sincere and honest person that i think he will grow into that role as ambassador. gabbard and huckabee and hegseth, that's one thing. matt gaetz is totally different, anderson. matt gaetz is someone whose entire life goal has seemed to me to be disruptive, to

be arnery and wild and -- i keep going back to the word creepy and i think that best describes him, and i hate to be so dogmatich about it and i don't see an upside at all and i don't know why president trump did it. >> geraldo rivera, thank you for being on. >> thank you very much. another signal, the president- elect who is intent go keeping his campaign promise about mass deportation and rosa flores talks to two families and what that might mean for them.

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today, president- elect trump made official what cnn has been reporting for several days mainly that stephen miller will join tom homan to take on the new administration on mass deportations to fulfill a campaign promise. maria flores

has more on what families are facing with the president-elect. >> how many of you are u.s. citizens. how many of you support donald trump? you're undocumented and you support donald trump? >> i support donald trump for the economy. >> two hispanic families with mixed legal status in houston with two different takes on president-elect donald trump's return to the white house. this is the espinoza's first gathering since trump's win. >> how many of you fear that deportation could impact your family? >> cesar espinoza, a husband and father was a daca recipient until he got a green card. his sister and brother-in- law are daca recipients and his sister-in- law is a green card holder and the rest of his family are u.s. citizens and some who are not present are undocumented. >> you're a green card holder, your wife is a u.s. citizen. why are you afraid of

deportation. >> i just became a green card holder after 33 years of being in this country. i don't think people understand the fear. it's a constant shadow hanging over our heads. >> what was your reaction to donald trump winning? >> i cried a lot. it was -- it was emotional . half my family, like, if they're going to be here, they're not going to be here and how do you tell all of our kids, like? my nephews, they're also our kids. >> to tell people that doesn't live in kids' and children's mind and teenagers, it is a lie. >> helacio velasquez is an undocumented mechanic who worked in houston for the last 25 years. oh! he plays in this park with his two u.s. citizen children ages 5 and 9 and stands by donald trump. >> so you support donald trump because of the economy. >> for the economy, yes. >> but you don't support the

anti- immigrant rhetoric. >> i'm not support the anti- immigrant action. >> do you support his mass deportations? >> no. it's not human. >> are you afraid that you could be deported in this mass deportation? >> i'm not afraid. i'm not afraid. >> espinoza runs a migrant advocacy group and says many people are afraid and have called him in tears. >> i think there's a heightened sense of fear. >> explain why latino men are going to trump. >> democrats forget the promise when these guys are in the office in washington. the latinos want a better nation. >> espinoza believes some of the latino support for trump was a vote against the prospect of the first black female president. >> there's still a lot of machismo. there's still a lot of misogyny and something that we need to say aloud is a lot of anti-blackness. >> he hopes trump finds compassion for immigrant fathers

like him who are not criminals. >> if you get deported would you regret your support of donald trump? he's saying he wouldn't regret supporting donald trump. so you're really not thinking about yourself. you're thinking about your children and the future of your children? >> yes. i want a better for my children. >> cesar says he feels guilty for bringing so much uncertainty to his family. >> what's it like for you to see your wife go through this and the emotions that she's going through? >> i apologize to her a lot. we fell in love right away and we got married almost right away because when you know you know. >> we asked velasquez and espinoza the same time question. >> do you have a plan in case you get deported? >> i respect the decision, and i leave the country. i not come back. >> there is a plan. we've talked about it openly with our family. >> turns out, these two hispanic families with two different takes on trump's win have the same plan if they get

deported. they would go to mexico as a family. >> as for how organizations across this country are preparing for possible deportations, first of all, nationally, the aclu and lulac, they're preparing for the legal fight to challenge some of these policies in court and then there's organizations, for example, in california, who are calling for immigration reform and in new york organizations who are switching their mission a little to focus on the possibility of mass deportation and anderson, i talked to some organizations here in texas on the border who say that if the federal government is actually going to deport a lot of migrants in this massive way, that they should do so with dignity. anderson? >> i appreciate it. thank you. coming up next, a wisconsin man vanishes while kayaking in a lake which is only the beginning of a very strange story next.

tonight, authorities believe a husband who disappeared while kayaking is likely alive and stage ii disappearance. they are urging the missing man to come

forward. moronta from whitney wild. >> reporter: green lake, wisconsin, in the middle of august. sheriff deputies began searching for missing kayaker ryan, the husband and father of three had been on a fishing trip about one hour north of his home and never returned but they found his capsized kayak, car, and other belongings. his set of keys, wallet, lessons, and even his fishing rod and tackle box turned up, but no survivor. >> research continued through 54 days. >> reporter: keith is a diver assisting in recovery operations were drowning accidents. >> they had been on the water for 23 days, probably 8 to 10 days of reviewing the data. >> reporter: local and state authorities, along with volunteers, also helped in the search using high-end sonar equipment, drones, and even cadaver dogs. the body never turned up. so, the greenlee county sheriff's department pursued a different theory, he faked his own death and fled

the u.s. the sheriff said a digital forensic investigation of his laptop showed that he cleared his browser history and hard drive on the day of the disappearance. investigators found that the 44-year-old moved funding to a foreign bank, changes email, community with a woman in uzbekistan, purchased airline cards, and took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in january. the sheriff's office says deputies later discovered that canadian officials ran his passport the day after he was reported missing. >> due to these discoveries of new evidence, we are sure that ryan is not in our lake. >> reporter: they do not believe they know who the woman is but they expect him in eastern europe. of any crime was committed, no charges have been filed. in the meantime,