captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, january 29th: judges halt president trump's order banning refugees and migrants from seven majority- muslim nations. while protestors of the ban take to the streets. next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual

and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. the trump administration is defending its controversial executive order blocking immigrants and refugees from select muslim countries from entering the u.s. the white house says since the president imposed the 90-day ban on friday, a total of 325- thousand travelers from abroad arrived in the united states yesterday, and only 109 were detained at airports for questioning, because they're citizens of the banned countries. those majority-muslim countries are iran, iraq, libya, syria, somalia, sudan, and yemen, which have a combined population of 219 million people.

trump chief of staff reince priebus said today most of the detained travelers were released, though "a couple dozen" remained in custody. >> my suspicion is those people will move on along as long as they're not dangerous, and perhaps a couple of them will be further detained, because it's determined that they're dangerous for this country, so this was a promise that president trump had made and it's a promise he's going to keep and he's not willing to be wrong on this subject." >> sreenivasan: in an apparent reversal on one key point, priebus said legal permanent residents of the u.s. green card holders are exempt from the ban. white house spokesman sean spicer said the order had been in the works for weeks, and the element of surprise in issuing it was intentional. >> what we couldn't do was telegraph our position ahead of time to ensure that people flooded in before that happened, before it went into place." >> sreenivasan: both spicer and priebus said the executive order is not a muslim ban, and pointed out there's no ban on travelers from 46 other muslim-majority

countries. senate republican majority leader mitch mcconnell said today he opposes any religious test for entering the u.s. >> to the extent that they are trying to improve the vetting process, i think that's in order. we need to bear in mind that we don't have religious tests in this country and we also need to remember that some of our best allies in the war on islamic terrorism are muslims. >> sreenivasan: the president defended his order in a twitter message posted this morning, saying, "our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, now. look what is happening all over europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!" federal judges in at least four states-- new york, virginia, massachusetts, and washington state-- have issued stays of the order to block its enforcement. the first came from u.s. district judge ann donnelly in new york, ordering authorities to refrain from deporting previously approved refugees from the banned countries. her ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by the a.c.l.u.

on behalf of two iraqi men detained at kennedy airport yesterday and later released. in a seemingly contradictory statement, the department of homeland security said it will comply with all judicial orders but also asserted:" president trump's executive orders remain in place- prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the u.s. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety." protests against president trump's travel ban continued into a second day today in cities across the country, particularly at airports where travelers were at risk of being detained, and in other quarters as well. >> reporter: thousands rallied this afternoon in the nation's capital to protest the president's new policy near the white house. and a huge throng of protesters filled boston's copley square today. in new york, protesters gathered in battery park at the southern tip of manhattan, within sight of the statue of liberty. last night, a large crowd of protesters kept vigil outside

the city's john f. kennedy international airport where a dozen refugees had been detained trying to enter the country. two democratic members of congress, jerrold nadler and minority leader chuck schumer demanded the executive order be rescinded. >> this executive order-- was mean-spirited and unamerican. >> elsewhere >> reporter: elsewhere across the country, a huge protest at seattle-tacoma international airport turned violent last night, when police sprayed tear gas to disperse protesters from the terminal. at the atlanta airport, democratic congressman and civil rights icon john lewis was among the protesters. there were also large crowds of protestors at chicago's o'hare airport, dallas-fort worth airport, and dulles international outside washington, d.c. today, minnesota democrat keith ellison, one of only two muslims

in congress, said mister trump's order is tantamount to a ban on muslims entering the u.s. >> when you want to ban refugees, these folks go through an 18-24 month vetting as it is. you know, the fact is, is that if you talk about banning syrians, about three quarters of those folks are women and children. a full third of them are kids under 12-years-old. >> reporter: last year's democratic nominee for vice president, virginia senator tim kaine, said the policy hurts the country. >> the trump administration is poised to do horrible danger to our country our values, our people and our reputation. >> reporter: the executive order has also come under fire by some republican senators and congressmen, who call it an overreach or too broad. arizona senator jeff flake said, american business leaders in silicon valley, who rely heavily on foreign engineers and experts,oppose the order. apple c.e.o. tim cook told staff in an e-mail, "apple would not

exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do." google co-founder and russian immigrant sergey brin was spotted among the protesters at the san francisco airport. in europe today, british prime minister theresa shifted her tone to say she does not agree with the order. german chancellor angela merkel said the fight against terrorism is no excuse for a ban on refugees. but far-right leaders in germany, italy, and the netherlands applauded the ban. the 22-member arab league said it's "deeply concerned" about the ban and called it" unjustified." >> sreenivasan: for more on the legal and immigration issues related to president trump's executive order, i am joined from miami by "usa today" reporter alan gomez. al an, how do we get to these last 24 hours, what

seems confusing an chaotic and how this policy has been implemented? >> i think one of the biggest problems is that president trump signed the order, but there appears to be very little guidance when it comes to how it's being implemented on the ground. so we're hearing different reports how custom and border protection is treating people coming too the country at let's say boston and washington dulles than they are in los angeles and san francisco. so right now we're hearing that there are still people detained in los angeles and san francisco. on the east coast a lot of those cases have largely been resolved because of a couple of court orders but it is making for a difficult situation as lawyers are trying to just get access to these people being detained and facing these conflicting orders from customs and border protection. >> sreenivasan: why is there confusion when it comes to costume, border protection, the tsa and airlines. usually in the past it has been a six month warning sign, you have to start using your passports to go to canada and back, whatever this came much

quicker. >> because of the way the order was signed and then just immediately implemented. there was very, very little time for customs and border protection to respond to this. they say that as soon as the order was signed they immediately issued new guidance to their port officers, the people that you interview with when you come into the country and updated their computer system so that they would specifically target people from these seven countries that were listed in the ban. but as you could imagine, when that goes out that quickly to that many officers without any sort of training or without any sort of more systemic changes to the system, it it creates a lot of confusion. >> what about the notion of the religious test that seems to be baked into this action? >> we haven't even started getting into the legal debate over the overall legality of president trump's order. and that's when we're going to start seeing whether-- weather courts decide that this was the quote unquote muslim ban that he

talked about on the campaign trail or if this was really a national security order that he issued. there is, you know, when you look through the order, most of it is is tied to national security. it opens up, talking about the terrorist attacks of september 11th. the president goes on to explain in great detail why this is being done on national security grounds. but because of his past statements about the muslim ban, an because of at least one provision in the order that seems to indicate that we are going to give pry or tiization to people who are religiously percent cuted in some of these countries, it could open up the entire order to legal questions about whether this is really a religious ban or if it it is based solely on national scooter grounds. >> sreenivasan: what does this do to the time line of anybody that is in line for a visa interview or an ability to enter the u.s.? >> if you are from those seven countries or you're trying to apply through the refugee program, i think right now you're just on indefinite hold.

again, these rulings that we've seen over the weekend only deal with the people who are already here and were already on the way. but people who are applying for visas from any of those seven countries or trying to attain refugee status, right now that entire program is effectively shut down. they cannot apply, they cannot go through the interview process. we are hearing stories around the world right now of people who had their interviewed scheduled and now they are told hey, that's on hold right now. there's just confusion around the world right now over this as they try to sort out what it really means. >> alan gomez, joining us from miami today, thanks so much. >> thank you. the it bans any more from coming for the neck four months. while the vetting process is reviewed. news hour weekends megan thompson leaves people here very concerned. >> mohammed hamid worked as an

interpreter in iraq for ten years. soon after he started his job, he says, he became the target of iraqi militias, for helping the americans. >> most of the people who worked for the americans, especially interpreters like me, their life was in real risk. my family wonder why i didn't go outside that much, because any person could recognize me. even during late hours at night it really was terrible to live in such circumstances and conditions. you are like under threat. >> reporter: he says in 2007 iraqi militiamen broke into his home. he wasn't there, but, he says, his brother, who looks just like him, was kidnapped and tortured. >> they kidnap him for several days, and he was bad tortured, and when they figure it was not me, they let him go, but he was almost dead. >> reporter: that's when hameed applied for a visa to leave iraq for the u.s., and to bring his wife and their son, now ten, and their daughter, who's four. the vetting process took three years. today, hameed appeared at a press conference with new york

senator chuck schumer, who called the trump executive ord"" misguided" and "shocking." hameed's family arrived here just in time-- on january 5th, three weeks before the trump administration imposed the new ban on migrants and refugees from iraq and six other predominantly muslim countries. >> when i was in baghdad, i didn't know when i would be killed, me, my kids, now that >> reporter: hameed's family has settled in bayonne, new jersey, about an hour's commute to new york city. he's looking for work as a computer consultant. >> i am a good citizen, i have my own business. >> reporter: azzam elias was also at today's press conference. he immigrated to the u.s. from syria in 1978 as a refugee, fleeing violence and persecution. his two daughters remained behind, raised by their mother. when the syrian civil war began six years ago, he says he knew what he had to do. >> i says, we have to bring him here. we have to. we have to save my grandchildren. >> reporter: rania, now 37, says

the hardest part of living in syria was the constant shelling and not knowing if her kids would make it home from school. one day a suicide bomber blew himself up right outside their apartment in damascus. after years of applications, she finally got a visa with the help of the nonprofit catholic charities. she and her husband and their four kids arrived in new york just last month. what does it feel like to be in rania tell me-- she doesn't have to worry anymore that somebody is going to hurt her kids, and she finally feels at peace. but rania's sister, azzam's other daughter, remains a refugee in lebanon, next door to syria. the fate of her application for a u.s. visa more uncertain than before. >> it's so terrible. these kids are here, how happy and peaceful here, you can see on their faces, but the other ones, you left us behind. or you don't want us. that's the feeling i feel. i can't sleep, i can't eat, i can't work. i don't know what to do.

>> reporter: elias, who lives in the bronx and owns his own upholstery business, says he wants the president to know the and his family are good people. >> this is not a face of a terrorist. this is the face that's going to make america great. >> read about how president trump's immigration order affects students and professors at universities. visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: to help us understand the stays of the trump executive order issued by federal judges, i am joined here in the studio by anthony romero, executive director of the american civil liberties union. the aclu argued successfully for the stay in brooklyn federal court last night. what are the multiple central challenges that you have to the executive order? >> there are a number. for us the executive order really does break down into four parts. first, the puts a more torium on

all refugees coming to this country for 1250 days, it tells the number of syrian rev geus who can be resettled here. third component, looking at a ban for 90 days or more of individuals coming from seven predominantly muslim countries. and fourth, and probably most notably carves out exceptions for religious minorities from those self is encountries. so taken together we think that those four aspects of the executive order violate due process, rights, equal protection rights. the first amendment rights of9 individuals vees a vee the government. the government is not supposed to either favor or discriminate against any religion. violations of domestic statutes, the immigration nationality act, the administrative procedures act. we think it even implicates some international treatees including the convention against torture and refugees. >> people are saying listen, the word muslim, islam, christianity aren't in this executive order.

is it fair to call it it a muslim ban? >> absolutely. it's crystal clear. the seven countries they picked, predominantly muslim countries. the carving out for minority religions where president trump con temp rainiously signed the order talked on christian broadcast radio. the fact that he wanted to protect chrisians. it's clearly a muslim ban. it's clearly meant to target certain muslim countries. it doesn't go after the saudis. it doesn't go after other gulf arab countries. and yet it's clear that this is making good on donald trump's promise to target and to ban muslims. >> sreenivasan: and that's part of the administration's claim, to say listen, we didn't go after almost muslim countries, there are other countries that are on this list how so how you can say we are discriminating. >> these seven have large muslim populations. the countries not on the list, that is a question better put to the trump administration. why not the saudis, for

instance, most of the 9/11 attackers were of saudi desent or saudi origin. >> tell me about how this is going to reconcile? we've got a decision in brooklyn. we've got a decision in boston. maybe another one in articlington-- or virginia. so what happens? basically is there a reconciliation process. does this have to get appeal to go to the supreme court? >> there is also from what i understand cases in seattle washington as of this morning. the case in brooklyn, the one we filed on late last night and early yesterday morning and the judge ruled late last night is a class action suit it covers all individuals who are banned entry into this country because of the trump executive order. so we think that will be the primary vehicle by which the courts adjudicate the constitutionality, the legality of the executive order. they ultimately may be consolidated. depends on which, how far, which judge gets out in front. that all will be determined in the course of the next several weeks. >> and what happens to the

supreme court justice that president trump will have an ability to nominate this week? could that be the tie-breaking vote if this has to go to the supreme court. >> could play an important role. we are a long way away from the supreme court. obviously from the level t could appeal to the court of appeals it is the type of case that would ultimately come before the supreme court. i'm hopeful. i think that even with conservative majority of the supreme court, many of the justice was don't often vote with us on racial justice cases will vote with us on first amendment cases. >> sreenivasan: anthony romero, executive director of the american civil liberties union, thanks so much for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> sreenivasan: the pentagon confirms an american soldier was killed today during a commando raid on al qaeda's branch in yemen. u.s. military officials say president trump approved the pre-dawn attack, which, they say, killed 14 militants, in the central yemeni province of al-

bayda. the death of the u.s. commando is the first known american combat fatality under the new administration. al qaeda said yemeni women and children also died in the raid, including the eight-year-old daughter of anwar al-awlaki, the radical yemeni-american cleric killed by a u.s. drone strike in yemen six years ago. president trump is giving his chief political strategist a seat on the national security council. steve bannon's appointment is part of an n.s.c. shakeup that reduces the role of the military's joint chiefs of staff and the director of national intelligence. their attendance at meetings of the n.s.c. principals committee will now be optional, according to the trump executive order issued yesterday. today, arizona senator john mccain called the elevation of bannon, a one-time navy office"" radical" and said he was concerned about a diminished role for the joint chiefs. jeff green field here to discuss the political fallout of the trump executive order 57bd other actions he has

taken in the first ten days in office. jeff, let's separate out legal issues from the political ones. what-- how significant of a political week has this been? >> yeah, you're quite right about that, legally some people have argued that the president has very wide latitude to determine who does and who does not gain entry to the united states. jonathan tu rly at george washington says he doesn't like this plan at all. he says it might be legal. others said it violates the 1965 immigration reform. whatever the legalities, politically, it's a different story. but one that i think requires some subtle distinctions. clearly the image of syrian christians being thrown back on a plane and being deported out of the country, a contractor from iraq who risked his life to help the united states military being put in handcuffs. that is not the message the white house wanted nor does it like the fact that a fair number of republicans in congress, national security experts who served in both republican and democratic administrations are

saying this is almost a recruiting message for isis. like the abu graib prison scandal. but i think the other part of this is that to trump's core supporters what this signals is we are going to do what we promised you we were going to do. we're going to crack down very hard on all kinds of people seeking to come into this country. we want to protect you even if it means barring a student from coming home or separating families. so i think when you ask the politics of it, it is the difference between what the traditional political establishment, if you will, is hearing and what trump supporters are hearing. >> they have a departure from that tradition and the norms is this? >> i think that's probably the bigger story. this executive order was not vetted to use the president's term about refugees with the-- legal counsel il, was not walked past the department of homeland security or the state department to ask what are the

repercussions of this going to be. in addition, if the press reports are right, homeland security pushed back on the idea that you will affect people with green cards. these are legal res denteds of the united states and the white house said nope t applies to them too. but i think the broader point is this is tell iting us once again how the trump white house intends to govern which is why i think the news about the national security council reshuffling may be a much bigger story ultimately than the travel ban. >> and they did walk back the green card thing earlier today on the sunday morning talk shows. let's talk about that shuffle in the national security council. why is that so significant? >> well, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the highest ranking military official in the united states is no longer automatically guaranteed a seat at the table for so the called principles meeting, that is when the big shots gather. that's unprecedented. even more unprecedented, steve bannon, the president's senior political strategist who came over from breitbart news to the

campaign and now the white house, he is going to be included in all of those national security council meetings. now i don't think there's any precedent for that. george w. bush did not send karl rove into that meeting. president obama did not send david axelrod into that meeting. and it seems to say once again, that this white house is not playing by the traditional rules of the game. that they're perfectly prepared to annoy or even concern the establishment. don't lis tone what the mainstream media is going to tell you about this. we are doing what we said we were going to do and that's the message we want you to take from this. >> sreenivasan: jeff greenfield, thank you for that insight and as always, joining us from santa barbara today. >> thank you. #r finally in >> sreenivasan: finally, in a written statement issued late this afternoon, president trump

defended his ban on syrian refugees and immigration from seven muslim-majority countries, saying in part: oming up on the newshour-- on tuesday-- judy woodruff sits down for an interview with vice president mike pence. that's all for this edition of "pbs newshour weekend." thanks for watching. i'm hari sreenivasan. good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for publicrocasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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