>> friday, november 16th, this is "fox and friends first". happening at 4:00 am on the east coast, recount ruckus, florida voting machines missing the deadline by just two minutes. the lawsuits piling up as rick scott says it was done on purpose. leaves are not even off the trees yet but people are digging out from a deadly snowstorm that dumped inches of snow on the northeast. the cleanup underway right now. >> are you aware of ice is being used to enforce the laws? >> to put ice in the same category as the kkk.

>> reporter: ice and the kkk have a lot in common. growing outrage after a 2020 democratic contender draws that parallel. "fox and friends first" starts right now. >> good morning, you are watching "fox and friends first" this friday morning. a very snowy one in parts of the northeast including new york city. we got dumped on yesterday. the clouds over the empire state building, a beautiful want to start your friday and we begin with this. the first ever statewide hand recount just ordering florida's

hobby contested senate race. the decision comes after broward county missed the deadline by two minutes. rick scott accusing brenda snipes of doing it intentionally. griff jenkins live with what happens next. one thing that is not going to happen, remember coming home apparently. >> reporter: nobody was more stunned than the people in the building behind me. the guy that did the counting saying off camera, i went through hell for nothing. brenda snipes, the election supervisor took responsibility for it. here's what she had to say. >> we were told completion was 302 on the button. i take responsibility for every act in this office, good, bad or indifferent. i hold myself accountable. >> reporter: the numbers in broward were favorable.

rick scott's margin increased by 865 votes, time to end, time for nelson to concede. that is not going to happen because we will have that hand recount beginning, six people per table, two from the county, they will be looking at 18 bins of over and under votes. look for a lot of talk about these over a vote, could be 20 or 25,000 or more and that is where they will contest that voter intent was for for their candidate. the resolution in the governor's race, ron desantis's margin above a quarter of a percentage point over andrew gillam, this returns remain clear and unambiguous just as they were on election night. at every point throughout the process gillam issuing a statement of optimism saying our race has fallen outside the window for a recount but we still believe before the election results are certified the state of florida must count every legally cast vote.

we expect these numbers for the governor's race will be certified and you will have run to santos as the governor. they are having problems but expect to get going at some point today. shannon: it is clear something is wrong down there. they need to fix this problem whatever it is. thank you so much, appreciate it. the other story we are talking about, 650 illegal immigrants busted in arizona in two days. border patrol agents say they are mostly family units, unaccompanied minors from guatemala. troops along the border hard at work awaiting the migrant caravan laying barbed wire and cleanup barriers. the first wave of the caravan arriving in san diego could take six weeks to process asylum

claims. progress on the border wallace thousands more migrants are expected to arrive by the end of the year. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell meeting with donald trump before funding bill next month. the kentucky lawmaker says he expects to reach a budget agreement and is optimistic about securing our border. the president did not threaten a government shutdown over border wall money. thousands of migrants approaching us oil are adding to the already backlogged asylum claims. brian dean wright says it is not straight on the immigration system but stressing out americans. >> what we will end up seeing as the caravans continue to flow, not just at the border but we see these numbers go up from 4000, 2000 plus which because there is a new president in mexico, that is looking more likely to happen, you see these numbers hitting our border and

some degree of response to stop this, to fix this and they want everybody in washington to focus on this and whichever political party puts forward a plan to do so, talk about abolishing ice or ignoring the problem politically you will see the american people demand and reward people who stand up. shannon: recent fox news analysis shows immigration is the second most important issue facing the country according to voters. the first snowstorm of the season claiming at least twee 7 lives. it was a powerful nor'easter, causing a mess on roads. lauren blanchard looks at commuter chaos. >> reporter: cleaning up after being slammed by a pre-winter wallop, the first major storm of the season dumped several inches of snow, freezing rain and ice

across the eastern part of the country thursday. >> this is crazy to have snow before thanksgiving. >> first snow of the year looks great. >> reporter: people from missouri to alabama to new england hit with the blast that impacted schools, roadways, especially during the evening commute. >> the roads are really bad. >> when you hit an exit, tractor-trailers everywhere. >> reporter: hundreds canceled and thousands delay. at one point thursday roughly 400,000 people across the region were without power. many said they were not prepared for what is large storm brought. others enjoyed mother nature's winter wonderland. we are weeks away from the official start of winter which is december 21st and this unseasonable storm spanned 1000 miles. in washington, lauren blanchard, fox news.

heather: pretty but chaotic. officers, honoring someone killed trying to save lives, ron heller -- ron helus shot dead in thousand oaks, california. [amazing grace] heather: billy ray cyrus paying tribute to the 29 year veteran of the force in front of a packed memorial service. his community in southern california lining the streets as his casket passed by. the 54-year-old was the first inside the borderline bar when the suspect opened fire, 11 other people killed. he leaves behind a son and wife. he lost his life at the same restaurant where he proposed three decades ago. donald trump reinforcing support for veterans in the military at the marine barracks at the white house. >> military families are the

backbone of our nation. it is our sacred duty to support america's servicemembers every single day they wear the uniform and every day after when they return home as veterans and he rose. we take care of them. heather: this comes as va officials were grilled over a computer glitch that delayed benefits for hundreds of thousands of veterans. one of the key witnesses at the hearing, executive director of education service robert worley reassigned over that entire ordeal. country music legend roy clark has died. ♪ ♪ around like a clown heather: is best known for hosting the hit show for 24 years was also a member of the country music hall of fame,

passed away thursday from pneumonia complications at his home in oklahoma. keith urban two messaging in remembrance, my first memory of sitting on my living room floor watching roy clark ting -- tearing it up. roy clark was 85 years old. what about this? incredible moments at century link field in seattle, air force veteran and washington native raising the flag to kick off thursday night football. >> 96 years old and we thank him and all the men and women who serve. >> seahawks not letting him down, throwing a 15 yard touchdown with just over 5 minutes remaining and that is the difference in the win over the green bay packers. thank you for your service.

fox news alert. the death toll rising in the california camp fire with 600 people missing, 600, a closer look at the growing devastation as donald trump prepares to head west. recount chaos. governor rick scott railing against the missed deadline saying it was done on purpose. how can we be sure the results are legitimate? our next guest was there in 2000 and has a major wake-up call for the sunshine state. ♪ ?" ?" ♪ no, you goof. i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. nice. i know, right? ♪ [nose plays a jazzy saxophone tune] believe it. geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

julie: are watching "fox and friends first" and it is all about florida and the big debacle, florida recount deadline has come and gone in broward county. missing the vote by two minutes. rick scott slamming election she brenda snipes saying this was intentional because she didn't like the results. with the race heading for a hand count, can she be trusted?

brian blakeman, and advisor in the 2000 florida recount, joined me now. thank you for joining us. been there, done that. this is like déjà vu all over again. >> no doubt. out of 67 counties in florida it always seems to come down to the same two democratic strongholds, broward and palm beach county. the entire state can get it right but these two counties in terms of lack of integrity on the part of officials and lack of confidence the public should have that things are being done according to law. heather: brenda snipes said this was due to an employee not understanding the status website and even though the county's votes were tallied in enough time all those folks that to quote one of them worked their tail off for nothing, they did all that but then began to upload them to the website at

2:45 and upload to 17 minutes. that is the fuse we are hearing now. >> i don't buy it. there was a whole host of things these counties have done wrong including combing going ballots, provisional ballots with actual ballots that should have been counted to. this is not the way the system works. the law is the law. you have deadlines and you're supposed to meet those deadlines and if you don't have the equipment, you should be doing your job. this is a breakdown of the integrity of confidence. by incompetent officials and fraud at worst. heather: this keeps happening in broward county as you mentioned. why should folks in broward county trust the system or even go out and vote next time? >> they should be mad as hell. nothing has changed since 2000. you would think they would get their act together after the debacle of the recount back then but nothing has changed. the same ineffectual incompetent system and add to that

incompetent employees and leadership. nothing has changed. if i were looking at broward and palm beach county i would be mad as hell and demand change for 2020 because we have to have integrity and confidence in the electoral system. we are america, not some third world country. heather: you mentioned in 2000, refresh people's memory. you were in the middle of that. originally, this was not going to be called until they were counted. you initiated something that became known as the brooks brothers riot. >> what we did was understood it was a 3-pronged approach to the recount. once was in the courts because we had to fight there. and make sure the recount itself was done correctly and there was transparency and fight in the

streets to keep the public aware of what was going on. the courts and the ballot centers. the reason we shut down the miami-dade recount center is they were committing fraud, subjectively looking at ballots determining voter intent. that is not the way things are done in america. the place was shut down because what they were doing was illegal. heather: you are watching this unfold on tv. you know you are seeing people play the role you played back then. >> there are people, good for them, taking to the streets making their voices heard and trying to watch what is being done so elections are not stolen and voters are not disenfranchised. democrats should be out in droves, you don't see the numbers you are seeing republicans and that is a shame. a vote that is taken away is a

vote that is taken away from democracy whether republican or democrat. heather: counties have until november 18th at 12:00 pm to submit manual recount results. we will see if they make that. thank you for joining us, appreciate it, have a great weekend. the time is 18 minutes after the top of the hour. is julian assange about the face charges in the us? new documents revealed overnight. the possible impact that could have on robert mueller's investigation. band from facebook for being conservative, the new social media site, donald trump's biggest supporters. ♪ [ phone rings ] what?!

ready for christmas? no, it's way too early to be annoyed by christmas. you just need some holiday spirit! that's it! this feud just went mobile. with xfinity xfi you get the best wifi experience at home. and with xfinity mobile, you get the best wireless coverage for your phone. ...you're about to find out! you don't even know where i live... hello! see the grinch in theaters by saying "get grinch tickets" into your xfinity x1 voice remote. a guy just dropped this off. he-he-he-he. >> breaking overnight wikileaks founder julian assange facing

secret charges in the us and could have major implications for robert mueller's russia probe. allison barber joins us with more on the explosive court ruling we weren't supposed to see. >> reporter: prosecutors inadvertently identified julian assange in the court filing in an unrelated case according to the associated press, suggests prosecutors with apartment of justice prepared charges against the notorious founder of wikileaks. this news was reported by the washington post. they described it as a, quote, development that can significantly advance the probe into russian interference in the 2016 election and have major implications for those who publish government secrets. the court filing unrelated again to assange prosecutors said charges and an arrest warrant for assange would need to remain sealed until assange is arrested in connection with the charges

and the common complaint and therefore no longer evade arrest in this matter. how or why assange's name is in his court filing remains to be seen. the washington post says people familiar with the matter say the disclosure is true but unintentional. a spokesman for the eastern district of virginia told the associated press in the washington post the court filing was made in error and was not the intended name for this filing. wikileaks is part of the social council's investigation into russian meddling, the publication known from the dnc, emails from hillary clinton's campaign chair and communication between former trump campaign advisor roger stone and wikileaks. the president tweeted about this yesterday, about the russia investigation, call robert mueller conflicted and accused him of protecting people on the other side.

the special counsel investigation is ongoing. mueller's team turned to 30 people and got guilty pleas from some people including four former trump campaign aides. heather: interesting to see what happens on this today. donald trump has repeatedly said he has no plans to fire robert mueller. molly hemingway points out so far the investigation failed to serve its original purpose revealing any evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. >> you have seen for a while the special counsel which was set up to investigate treasonous collusion with russia to steal an election hasn't gotten anything of that nature at all but found a couple russian trolls doing facebook means and wrapped up a ton of trump associates on process crimes, things hillary clinton and her people when they were caught up in similar things, like to the fbi, didn't even bother prosecuting them.

when it comes to trump affiliates mueller has shown himself to be tenacious so i wouldn't be surprised if he had more things coming. the question is what happened to treasonous collusion with russia to steal an election? this is just a political prosecution to go after anybody who is friendly with trump that is not a healthy system we have. heather: it has been 548 days since the probe was launched and it cost american taxpayers as much as $17 million. a fox news alert. entire communities turned to ash as the death toll climbs in california. a closer look at the shocking devastation and the new numbers in overnight. he had no family but he sacrificed his life for this country. the emotional farewell for an american hero is hundred to didn't even know him show up to say goodbye. ♪

>> we are back with a fox news alert, 66 people confirmed dead and 600 missing as wildfires carve a path of destruction in california, the president will get a firsthand look at this devastation tomorrow. todd pyro has new images from the disaster zone. it is heart-wrenching. >> reporter: the numbers staggering, the reality heartbreaking. >> our hope is if there are missing people we can find them and bring closure. >> reporter: the images beyond belief. the search for remains continue today with the president scheduled to visit with those impacted by the devastation over the weekend. details on the time and place yet to be determined but donald trump says he has spoken with california governor jerry brown to let him know he is ready to

help, quote, all the way. check the massive this of the fires as seen from space. ryan's inky on the ground in california saying the nation needs to come together now. >> it is unsustainable to have this happen year after year, have a season like this where you have 100,000 acre fires becoming routine. we are a great nation. this is not a republican or democrat issue, this is an american issue and we should address it as such. >> reporter: governor brown adding that a sea change in how we think about the potential for these fires is vital. >> go forward, we have to take a lot of steps and manage our forests better, build our cities more smartly, build shelters so people can escape when these terrible fires get out of hand

and we have to deal with climate change. >> despite these horrible images, there's the health risk from smoke throughout the area including children, the elderly and those with existing health problems as well as those with asthma and lung disease. horrible times in california. heather: thanks for the update. other stories to get to. promises to scale back the nuclear program and work towards peace, north korea is testing a new ultramodern tactical weapon. state media says kim jong un showing great satisfaction but details about the weapon remain unclear. the test coming is mike pence meet with world leaders in asia amid ongoing efforts to denuclearize the peninsula. the trump administration sanctioning 17 saudis in connection with the brutal murder of jamal khashoggi. the us freezing assets and

trimming americans from doing business with them. the top prosecutor just indicted 11 suspects recommending the death penalty for five lose the prosecutor claims the saudi crown prince did not know about the plot. the race for georgia governor could be called today. counties scrambling to certify election results after federal judge ordered some with mistakes be counted and that includes those with missing or incorrect birthdays. it is unclear how many votes might be affected. brian kemp is leading stacy abrams by 55,000 votes. outgoing senator jeff flake taking on donald trump targeting his judicial nominees. his goal, to protect special counsel robert mueller but despite flake's threats the president has reshaped the judiciary. former federal attorney, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. heather: as we begin let's take

a look at the numbers in comparison for donald trump. this is in the first year and 9 months of his administration. he has appointed 29 different judges compared to president obama, 11, george w. bush 16, clinton with 19. he is reshaping things. >> reporter: absolutely. this administration significantly shaped the judiciary. there have been 29 lifetime appointments for judges in addition to 53 district court judges and two supreme court justices. the prior administration, there were 392 nominations and here donald trump has nominated 151. critics point to the make up of these judges and justices, say there is an overwhelming percentage of caucasian and male but the answer is this presidency has not concluded yet but the rapid pace of donald trump, maintained campaign promise to do so.

pending judicial nominees, they don't need majority support on the judicial committee or judiciary committee to advance to a final confirmation vote on the senate floor so why would flake be doing this? >> reporter: it tends to affect the pace only but if passed in the senate judiciary committee it has a faster pace. i think he's doing it for the optics. it is important for viewers to understand he threatened to not only judicial nominations but trade policy and government spending which means he is threatening a government shutdown over this legislation regarding the mueller investigation, protection which could be tossed anyway. the nuance about the legislation he was passed is for expedited judicial review. that can happen regardless and it belies the fact the cosponsor of the bill says there is no rush. he called a false crisis and it is important to pass but right

now there isn't the emergency senator flake is calling for. heather: i wonder if tiger to trade policy and government spending, if that is what this is about. >> reporter: probably. that is interesting to me, that we went through a midterm election with significant voter turnout seemed citizens were trying to make the point, taking power back into their hands. it is frankly surprising to me senator flake would be this unabashed and on his own moving forward in conjunction with senator schumer when clearly doesn't make sense especially with voter interest in getting trade policy and judicial nominations and government spending taken care of. heather: is a federal attorney, saw firsthand what the process does so you nowhere of you speak. thank you for joining us, we appreciate it.

the time is 20 minutes until the top of the hour. kamala harris under fire for drawing parallels between ice and the kkk. >> are you aware there's a perception -- >> to put ice in the same category as the kkk. heather: carly shimkus with the online backlash that is boiling over on this one. ♪

>> 2020 presidential hopeful democrat senator kamala harris) was between ice and the kkk. >> are you aware of the perception among many of the power and discretion ice is being used to enforce the laws? >> know. to put ice in the same category as the kkk.

heather: carly shimkus with fox news headlines 24/7 serious xm 115 with the backlash. >> he witnessed a heated moment between senator kamala harris and the acting head of ice who just finished apologizing for a tweet he sent out in 2015 where he suggested renaming the democratic party the neo-clan party sparking a discussion about the kkk where senator herstory parallels between how mexican immigrants may feel about ice and the kkk. some people say she has taken her criticism of ice a little too far including gop chairwoman rhonda mcdaniels who said if kamala harris is trying to launch a 2020 campaign comparing ice office to the kkk it is absolutely disgusting. nan haworth a friend of our show says senator kamala harris is running for the 2020 nomination

by focusing on her perception of ice as she based her questioning of brett kavanaugh on insinuations about his behavior. no policy, no facts, just vapor, toxic vapor. that is your opinion. another twitter user saying shameful and disrespectful to all law enforcement. a big part of the story, the fact that he apologized for suggesting the democratic party should be renamed neo-clan party, he was just joking but a lot of people are criticizing him for that this morning. heather: new pro trump social media platform. >> a lot of conservatives feel they are censored on facebook. now there is an alternative called trump town. addison riddlesberger says myself and many conservatives have been personally affected by self-proclaimed platforms

clamping down on my right to free speech. this is a platform where conservatives can speak freely and talk about why they appreciate donald trump's policies and the way he is handling certain things. i am trump army, sounds like a right candidate for this platform, time to move to a friendlier welcoming social media that won't shadow been me. song shines 7 said she joined trump town and another twitter user chad, promoting the platform saying free-speech for all, not just liberals. trump town, i like it. donald trump leaves office they will have to rename it. heather: veteran tennessee, turned out in scores. >> vietnam veteran, hundreds of people show up to his funeral after he was listed as having no known family, strangers coming

together to honor him after he served so bravely in life, an army veteran who attended the funeral. >> doesn't matter what war, we are brothers, world war i to afghanistan, iraq, vietnam. >> people taking time out of their day to honor this many didn't even know. a friday feel good story. heather: we are so thankful people have huge hearts. thanks very much. a couple other headlines, switching gears completely. this famed mandarin duck in central park enjoying the winter weather, video of this rare bird in the snow. i spent the weekend trying to find this bird. it is going viral, multicolored feathers, comes from east asia. who knows how it ended up in the

big apple but it sure is pretty. having fun. the time is 15 minutes until the top of the our. they put their lives on the line fighting for our freedom. why are they being ordered to give back the money they were paid to do just that? eight weeks since we learned rod rosenstein, why hasn't the deputy attorney general testified yet? judicial watch president tom fitton blaming the left scream tactics, he is live next. [ phone rings ] what?!

ready for christmas? no, it's way too early to be annoyed by christmas. you just need some holiday spirit! that's it! this feud just went mobile. with xfinity xfi you get the best wifi experience at home. and with xfinity mobile, you get the best wireless coverage for your phone. ...you're about to find out! you don't even know where i live... hello! see the grinch in theaters by saying "get grinch tickets" into your xfinity x1 voice remote. a guy just dropped this off. he-he-he-he.

julie: on trump railing against the mueller probe calling it a disgrace to our nation. the man who appointed, rod

rosenstein, is your to testify even though he suggested recording his conversations with the president was with the beauty attorney general ever go before congress? here is tom fitton. thank you for joining us. rod rosenstein. what is going on with him? why hasn't anything happened? >> reporter: >> the president is probably satisfied mister whitaker is acting attorney general and rosenstein is out of the picture in terms of supervising the mueller investigation. congress failed in its oversight of rod rosenstein and the justice department. the justice department refused to cooperate and congress hasn't pushed back appropriately. he got away without testifying today. once the republicans lose control of the house, they will be in no position to force the doj's hand and democrats won't

ask rod rosenstein why he was conspiring against the president of the united states in a way that would overthrow him. heather: they expect they delayed it long enough that it won't happen. >> i suspect rod rosenstein won't be testifying to congress anytime soon about his jokes about wiretapping the president and invoking the 25th amendment. heather: the justice department says donald trump did not break the law when he sidestepped the deputy attorney general and appointed someone else to the job. do you believe that to be correct? >> i don't even think it is close. federal law allows the appointment of mister whitaker. when you review the opinion of the justice department, you recognize this is been done since the beginning of the country. george washington and other early presidents since the nation's founding appointed people in similar circumstances as mister whitaker to run cabinet agencies. in the 1800s, 850 times.

there is a lot of anti-trump legal analysis to try to undermine mister whitaker. i don't think people are comfortable with the fact the justice department is being run by an appointee of donald trump as opposed to robert mueller. heather: top democrats, their argument, they were not given an opportunity to properly that mister whitaker's background so serious questions are arising about his fitness to serve in that position. >> it is a temporary position. he will have to leave the acting attorney general position for senatorial confirmation but in the meantime it is standard operating procedure to have temporary appointments and circumstances like this. heather: another delay tactic from democrats? >> democrats attack donald trump no matter what he does.

heather: the court has ruled that hillary clinton must answer more questions under oath regarding her emails, a big victory for judicial watch. >> we been authorized to ask her questions about her email conduct and she refused to answer some. after two our hearing or so the other day the court overruled her objections and the objections the state department and justice department who were on her side, the key questions she has to answer is who set it up? how was it set up? give us details about the email system and why it was done. the court in this case is interested whether the system was set up before the freedom of information act. heather: she claims she, quote, does not recall 20 times in her under oath responses. that does not recall answer wash

this time? >> the court will judge the credibility of those answers. of credible i don't recall maybe, but we all recall, she will recall or won't be able to credibly say she can't remember why she set up the system. plenty of testimony why it was set up and we now know that she set it up based on testimony of one of her top aides that she didn't want people seeing her emails. heather: give us a timeframe when you expect the process to start. >> we should get answers in a month. heather: really? all right. barring any other delays we will see if that happens. congratulations on that. >> our legal team did a great job, thanks. heather: time is 8 minutes until the top of the hour. a disgusting display of disrespect. a memorial honoring a fallen

marine destroyed not once but twice. how his brother is calling out the vandals. this proposal was meant to be a slamdunk but went out of bounds. the man who knocked his girlfriend to the ground before popping the question. ♪ get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more. for just $14.95 a month, you'll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two audible originals exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. if you don't like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere.

plus for the first time ever, you'll get access to exclusive fitness programs a $95 value free with membership. start a 30-day trial today and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. audible. the most inspiring minds. the most compelling stories. text "listen16" to 500500 to start your free trial today.

>> hundreds of soldiers forced to pay back the government here after getting two month deployment overseas, the payments range from $2, to $4500. the iowa national guard blamed the issue and reports from demobilization stations saying some troops got active-duty payments or entitlements after their active-duty ended. a man is forced to set up new memorials for his veteran brother after vandals take it down twice. >> whoever you are, you are a lowlife scumbag. this is a veteran. you are out here doing this, watch out. you are not going to get away with it. heather: the memorial is dedicated to richard giannzano. he and his girlfriend were hit and run killed two years ago, he tried to push his girlfriend out of the way.

the good, the bad and the ugly. the good. a snow day at the zoo, the panda having a blast at the smithsonian national zoo in dc, rolling around, climbing trees, first snowfall of the year. now the bad. a woman joins her son behind bars after allegedly escaping, helping him escape from jail work detail. police say they found kathy pentz and her son joshua eating out and ihop in georgia, he wanted to eat some pancakes. the ugly. a volatile player falls in love. watch jenna running to get a ball when her boyfriend, kyle pearson shows up and knocks her to the ground. all was forgiven when he dropped to his knee and popped the question with this volleyball.

she said yes. that wraps up this hour of "fox and friends first". hopefully you have a great weekend. "fox and friends first" continues right now. rob: it is friday, november 16th, deadline debacle. the florida recount missed by minutes and two counties. jillian: rick scott says it was intentional. was it? >> san diego once a wall going up. we will get them all done anyway. impenetrable physical tall southern border wall. jillian: busted at the border, troops adding barbed wire as thousands of migrants seek asylum. rob: how the president's southern border wall appears to be one step closer to becoming a reality.