dr. stanley: god always blesses obedience without an exception. tina: he teaches in a way that it just makes sense, and i feel like that's the way our heavenly father would teach us. ♪ welcome back to "face the

nation." we continue our conversation with teamsters president sean o'brien. mr. o'brien, thanks so much for sticking with us. one of your fellow unions, the united auto workers filed federal labor charges against the republican nominee, donald trump, after he seemed to celebrate the notion of firing workers who go on strike. that happened in a conversation he was having with elon musk. are you with the uaw on this? do you support the action they took? >> look, i support anybody that attacks labor. they should be held accountable in any organization that's going to hold them accountable. i can't speak for the uaw. if you recall when those remarks were made by former president trump, i was the first union to call them out, call the administration out, and call, quite frankly, on elon musk out. i've been fighting corporate billionaires and greed for the last 2 1/2 years. you know, uaw feels they have a

right to file a charge, that's their right. i have a right to call out former president trump or anybody else that attacks labor. >> yeah. if i remember correctly, you called it economic terrorism. how did it go over with your members? >> our members love the fact that they have a voice, they have the ability to stand up and fight corporate america. it's been a long time coming, over the last 2 1/2 years, the teamsters had 226 strikes. we've grown more than we ever have. there is a great appetite for the fight with our rank and file members. our rank and file members enable us to fight for them day in and day out. >> that's a perfect segwue into my next question. it is labor day weekend. let's look at the state of union labor in this country. about 10% of the u.s. workforce are union members, down from 20% in 1983. a majority of americans say that's bad, bad for working

people. is the decline irreversible in your view? >> the decline is irreversible. let's look back to 1983. that's when a bipartisan congressional bill was passed and we lost 400,000 members. a lot of companies went bankrupt. there's a lot of politicians taking credit for the labor movement over the last couple year, they're the same politicians that caused this problem we face today. to answer your question, i think we are definitely on the upswing. we have proved how valuable the american worker is to this country, especially through one of the biggest crisis we faced was the pandemic. that has incentivized workers to form unions and we've got to work collaboratively with both sides to make sure people are able to organize without retribution or retaliation moving forward. that's up to politicians. >> you shared that message at

the republican convention, a move that some members of teamster leadership did not approve of. they were pretty vocal about that. it appears it cost you a speaking slot at the democratic convention. did the democrats ever tell you why they didn't give you a chance to speak? >> no. they didn't. look, i'm going to say this -- whatever the critics are out there, and they're few in the leadership, when i get an opportunity to highlight the american worker, especially the teamster worker, i'm going to take any and all vennues. we asked both conventions and the republican convention responded to us. didn't try to edit our messages. i was hopeful that the democrats would do the same. but they didn't. i'm not upset about it. but my rank and file members who have been life long democrats are not happy about it. >> i know there were some members of the union that spoke. that's not the same as having the leader of the organization speak. very quickly, did you choose to

speak at the republican convention, which is an unusual move for a union leader, because you feel that trump has been more pro-labor than past republican nominees? >> no, not at all. i spoke there because of the ability to highlight how important we are. it was an ability to call out the corporate elitists, who built this country, the american workers. people like to have their own opinions about why we were there. i was there to talk about american workers. it wasn't an endorsement for republicans. it was a message about how important and valuable we are. and to let the people know that fight us every day, we're not going away. >> understood. sean o'brien, president of the teamsters, thanks so much. we'll be looking forward to hearing who your union eventually endorses. thanks for being here. we'll be right back.

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former president trump has promised to launch the largest

deportation operation in american history. and he's blamed the biden administration for a historic number of illegal border crossings in recent years. but the crossings have fallen sharply since the biden administration implemented new restrictions in june. >> you were deported from the u.s. this morning? in the morning. how are you feeling now? you don't know what you're going to do. we found that desperation is too familiar in this border town, where scores of migrants are routinely turned away from the u.s. we're in nogales, mexico. the u.s. is a few yards away in that direction. but for many of the migrants here, behind me, they were deported from the u.s., under president biden's executive order on asylum.

that order has shut down asylum processing at the u.s./mexico border, allowing officials to ramp up deportations of migrants crossing illegally. families of children, depaorted every morning. >> it's 24/7. >> reporter: she crossed the u.s. border herself in the 1980s to escape the civil war in el salvador. she comes to nogales every week with other american volunteers to offer food and guidance to deportees in need. >> they don't know where they're at. >> or what to do. >> right. we encourage them to go to the local shelters in this area, to get a bath, take a good meal. >> reporter: the biden administration says the new measures are partly why illegal border crossings have hit a four-year low. according to rodriguez, the policies mean people fleeing danger are being turned away. >> they are fleeing violence from organized crime, from

gangs, hunger. they are no criminals. you know? they are yet punished by our laws. these people are traumatized for a lifetime. >> you want to protect your daughters. rosales and her daughters were deported that morning. they friled their hometown aftea man started harassing her daughter. >> you want to explain to officials why you came? you did not get that chance. >> no. >> are you planning to enter the u.s. again? yes because of your daughters. they can deport you again. you know that. you're willing to take that risk? a risk many will still take, despite harsher u.s. policies.

we are joined by texas republican congressman tony gonzales. congressman, thank you so much for being with us here in washington. you represent a border district. you heard what camilo just reported. let's put numbers up on the screen so people know what we're t talking about. all year long, the number of migrant encounters along the southern border was hovering around 200,000 a month. then, this executive order went into place in early june. those numbers plunged to 100,000 in july. they were cut in half. are you ready to call this move a success? >> nancy, it's great to be here. i represent half of the southern border. i was on the border on friday. what i can tell you, is things are getting worse. let me give you an example. in the new mexico area, to date, there's been 100 illegal immigrants that have perished. every part of the border is different. parts of my district, it takes you three days through the desert to make it to the border.

in the new mexico area, it takes one hour. how is people dying in one hour? the criminal organizations are holding the migrants in the stash houses for sometimes over a month. feeding them one meal and one b bottle of water a day. when it is time for them to make the trek, they gave them caffeine pills and rush them over. the humanitarian crisis along the border is getting worse. in el paso, one of the safest countries in america. the fbi just conducted an operation this week. and they scooped up dozens of these criminal gangs, via the anti-gang task force. in many cases, americans are less safe because of this. and migrants are less safe of this. this is how you solve it. if somebody comes over illegally, they get deported. you double down on legal immigration. if we want to win the space race, we're going to need engineers from all over the

world. if we're going to grow our economy, we're going to need the hospitality industry, construction workers, and other areas. you double down on work visas. you vet people and double down on that. we're not seeing that. >> you've been pushing for administration to take executive action. for years, they've done it and you say you're not happy about it. >> ask the 100 families that died. this is the ugly part of it. so many people are dying. those are the people dying. what about the people getting assaulted and other areas. eat's getting worse and people are looking at the numbers and think it's getting better. who is coming over and what is happening to these people? the criminal organizations, thy are growing in prominence. they are all over the country and seeping their tentacles in our society. we have to get ahead of this. and we need real solutions.

they are deporting people not here and double downing on legal work visas. >> there are bipartisan proposals to deal with the complicated problems you're describing. one of them was struck in the senate. former president trump scuttled that deal, as you know. do you wish he had allowed that to go forward? >> there were positive things on the border package. i wouldn't have voted for that. the reason i wouldn't, it allowed 5,000 people to break the law before you enact it. the numbers should always be zero. we can be firm on illegal immigration. there was no talk of legal immigration. what about those that are doing it the right way? our allies in afghanistan we left behind? that was a failed bill. there's thousands of the bills. that was a failed bill before it gets going. >> there's a bipartisan bill in the house. do you support that?

>> i'm talking about escobar's bill. >> that has no chance of going anywhere. you know why? that's 500 pages long. that gives any one person to say, i don't like this bill. the other piece of it, too, it talks about alloying people here illegally a path to citizenship. that's dead on arrival. you have to start with securing th border and work visas. you want to talk about pathway to citizenship, that's code for you do not want to solve the problem. >> okay. you say you want to solve the problem. and yet, you don't like any of the bipartisan proposals out there. are you writing your own? >> i have a bill. it's three pages long. it extends work visas from one year to three years. allows people to streamline the process, instead of mailing in work visas. you do it online. there's a border security piece to it, too. we the be warm and welcoming and secure the border. all the proposals right now have

no chance of it. here's another thing. has tim walz ever been to the border? when was the last time he's been to the border? you have to see it to hear these stories about the hundred migrants that died in new mexico. you have to see it first hand. >> you served in the navy for 20 years. as a veteran, i want to get your take on what happened at arlington national cemetery. the secretary of the army felt that she had to put out a statement saying that an anc employee -- an arlington national cemetery employee, was abruptly pushed aside when the trump campaign tried to bring a campaign photographer on to the grounds with the former president. and then, a top trump adviser, posted after that. i am reposting this to trigger the hacks at the secretary of army's office. have you seen a campaign talk this way about the military? >> funny thing about president trump is he gets all the

attention. no matter what he does -- sometimes that gets spun this way or the other. >> that's not spin. that's his own campaign staff. >> i can tell you veterans support trump far and away. the fact he was there to highlight that the 13 americans that were killed, that is something that's overlooked. once again, i served in afghanistan. unlike tim walz, who did not serve in afghanistan, i've been there. i retired as an e9. >> when you compare your service to tim walz, are you saying he's less of a veteran? >> e hhe lied about what pay gr he retired at. i'm saying it's important that we -- arlington is a special place. >> it is. >> we have to make sure it's a special place. and we have to keep politics out of it. it's important we do that. i wish president trump and president biden were there, highlighting the fact of the gold star families. this is what we need to get back

to. so much finger-pointing. it's the tale end of the election. we have to get back to putting veterans first and putting our families first and putting the american people above everything else. >> congressman tony gonzales of texas, thank you for being with us. we'll be back in a moment. stick with us.

they say the hardest part of getting something done let's go! hustle! is getting started. well, we did that 30 years ago, when california first took on the tobacco industry. this is not just about access. it's about the message it sends... now smoking is down 60 percent. lung cancer 42 percent. a couple of our cities have already ended tobacco sales.

a california without big tobacco isn't just possible, it's already happening. election day is more than two months away. but voters in dozens of states won't have to wait for november to cast a ballot. 36 states plus the district of colombia allow voters to cast ballots by mail without providing an excuse. and in 47 states plus d.c., voters have the option to vote early, either by mail or in person. joining us with a look at our election system is david becker. he's a former civil rights attorney at the department of justice, who now leads the center of election innovation and research. he's a contributor here at cbs. david, it is so good to see you. it is labor day weekend. so, it's the traditional kickoff of the election season. amazing to think that voters in north carolina will start

getting their ballots as soon as this week. give us a lay of the land. will it be easier or harder for voters to cast ballots in 2024 than 2020? >> there's a lot of political rhetoric out there about overemphasizing fraud or voter suppression and there have been bad laws passed in some states. for instance, the voters in north carolina will have to provide additional identification when they vote by mail. overall, if we look at the history of the united states, it is easier than ever to vote in american history. and 99.9% of voters will find it a convenient experience. they will be around neighbors. they will wait in line less than 30 minutes. that's the normal voting experience in the united states. easier to register to vote than ever before. more voter have registered to online registration. 40 states or more. more voters have registered at the motor vehicle agency.

things like that. you can check registration online, right there on the state's website, in almost every state. same with voting. early voting, available almost every state. mail voting is available in the vast majority of states. voters will have a choice. >> what should people know about veg registering to vote? >> there's plenty of time. every state allows registration up to 30 days before the election. you'll have until early october to register. if you haven't registered yet, do it today. it's a great time. go to vote.gov. that's a great site to find information from your state. there's a menu. it takes you to the state source where you should go to check your registration. same states allow registration through october and on election day itself.

every state in the united states, can register to vote until early october. >> you've been really proactive. i see you online. pushing back when you encounter election misinformation, particularly when it comes from someone like elon musk, who owns a social media platform and has been pushing some really inflammatory claims when it comes to voting. >> yeah. there's powerful forces that want us as americans who live in our democratic society, that doubt that democratic society. to doubt the elections that decide our leaders. and to think of our neighbors as enemiese th us politically. our elections are as secure as they have ever been. we have more paper ballots than ever before. they are auditible and recountable. and we audit them to make sure machines count them accurately. more accurate voter lists than

before, thanks to data and states sharing data between states and within a state, to make sure we keep up with people as they move, so we have the right address for them. we have more pre-election litigation. some think that's a bad thing. it clarifies the rules. when we get to election day, both sides, all of the candidates knows the rules. you might not like them. but those are the rules. you can't complain about them once election day comes. we have had more postelection litigation that's confirmed and verified the results than ever before. we sit 46 months after the last election right now, an election that withstood more scrutiny than any election in world history. more stcrutiny in election in world history and there's no evidence that's been presented to any court -- it's presented on social media. it's easy to put it on social media. to subject it to scrutiny and cross-examination, have a judge hear it and rule, there's not a single shred of evidence of any

court in the country. >> are we seeing more misinformation this election season than the past? and where is it coming from? >> we're seeing more election disinformation for sure. it's coming from donald trump. it's coming from elon musk. it's coming from foreign adversaries like russia, iran, north korea. that are heavily invested in getting us to doubt that the accurate candidate was elected. to doubt our elections are working. when you see something on social media to triggers something that makes you angry about the other side, all of us as media consumers should pause and say, maybe the anger is the product they're trying to create. maybe they are getting paid and

instead, go to the trusted sources. go to election officials. republicans, democrats across the country. there's hundreds of thousands of them. our election is going to be run by them, these professionals. we're going to rely on a million volunteers. people in our communities and neighbors, who are going to volunteer their time for a long day on election day. to make sure elections are accurate. if anyone has doubts about the system, volunteer to join them. volunteer to be a poll worker. go into your local county or election site. that's very easy to volunteer. they're looking for people. you'll see firsthand, all of the chex a checks and balances. >> great advice. david becker, law expert for cbs news. thanks very much. appreciate it. we'll be right back.

the next presidential debate will be on tuesday, september 10th. and we will have complete coverage with the preview

special at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cbs. the live simulcast will be at 9:00 p.m., followed by expert analysis. that's it for us today. thanks for watching. for "face the nation," i'm nancy cordes. have a great holiday.