in to get that extra hot salsa. >> he didn't make it, my arms are longer. >> my thanks to president clinton and all the panelists in denver. thanks for joining us for "meet the press extra." i'm david gregory. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." gaining strength. the iraqi army is building up its fire power against isis militants. right now most of the troops' efforts are set on saddam hussein's hometown. also, do not send your children. that's the message from president obama. he's talking to parents of unaccompanied minors crossing the u.s. border illegally. now the president is asking congress for $2 billion to help send these kids back home. also, fired then rehired. the police chief in a small south carolina town who said she was fired because she's gay.

well, she now has her job back. i'm talking to crystal moore today about the dramatic turn of events that got her back on the police force. also, a dad's devotion to his son and also an invention could actually help millions of type one diabetes sufferers. i'm talking to the dad today. he has today's "big idea." hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes in for mr. craig melvin. we do need to begin with the developing story overseas. iraqi forces reportedly fighting back against isis advances today. but first, need to tell you about a pr move by the islamic militant group. they issued a statement saying the group is changing its name to what? the islamic state. the group also declared control over areas in iraq and syria as the military currently occupies but developments on the ground make reality a little less clear. the iraqi army says it has driven isis insurgents from the

city of tikrit, the birth place of saddam hussein. nbc's richard engel is in baghdad. >> reporter: the iraqi government is now making big claims. it says it has liberated the city of tikrit which was, of course, saddam hussein's hometown. tikrit had been taken over by militants from isis, but the government says after an intense 48-hour bombardment on the city using mostly helicopter gunships, that iraqi forces have moved in, driven out the militants, and stabilized the city. the problem is witnesses do not corroborate that account. they say there has been heavy fighting there with dozens killed on each side, but that the isis militants have pulled back from certain neighborhoods in tikrit but not completely abandoned the area and isis itself, which has been very effective in putting out propaganda videos, using social media, says it is sending reinforcements to tikrit. so this fight just in tikrit could last a lot longer, let

alone the effort by the iraqi government to take over mosul and fallujah and parts of ramadi and all of the other towns and cities in western and northern iraq that are still held by the militants. >> nbc's richard engel in baghdad. thank you so much. let me turn now on this sunday to what's going to be the talk on capitol hill on monday, tomorrow. president obama asking congress for more than $2 billion to deal with the significant rise in border crossings. the white house says more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended along the u.s. border with mexico since october. the president has been speaking out about the issue. here he is this morning on abc. >> we have to house these kids and take care of them until the machinery under current law allows us to send them back. do not send your children to the borders. if they do make it, they'll get sent back. >> let's say good afternoon to

kristin welker at the white house. tell us about this $2 billion. >> reporter: well, a senior administration official said that they're still mapping out the final details of that request, but you're absolutely right. tomorrow we anticipate that the obama administration will ask congress for a number of things. more than $2 billion to deal with the surge in unaccompanied minors crossing the border. also expanded authority for dhs, secretary jeh johnson, to fast track deportations as well as stiffer penalties for those smugglers who are helping the kids cross the border as well as other undocumented persons, and the numbers are staggering as you say, t.j. the administration estimates that as many as 52,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained while trying to cross the border. this is becoming a real political problem for the obama administration in addition to a humanitarian crisis. republicans saying that the administration is not doing enough. some within the latino community who are already angry about the

fact that immigration reform is stalled say this latest move will only further hurt children. the obama administration for its part has really been launching a full-court press to try to deal with this. this past week they dispatched vice president biden to central and south america to work with leaders there to try to spread the word that this is not the way to deal with what the administration says is an uptick in violence and poverty in central and south america which is helping to fuel this surge in illegal immigration, and then this coming week, t.j., for a little bit of a look ahead, secretary kerry will be traveling to central america, and he is expected to have conversations related to this crisis as well. we reached out to house speaker john boehner's office to get the reaction from that side of pennsylvania avenue. representatives there say they are going to wait until they see the actual proposal before they weigh in, and we anticipate that after the july 4th recess, that's when the official ask

will be made. that's when all of the details will be hammered out. t.j.? >> also something to look forward to this week, the president has a job to fill. he's looking for a replacement for secretary eric shinseki, who stepped down amid the controversy at the va. white house had an investigation saying the va had a corrosive culture is what it was called. so what do we know even about who, a name possibly from the president, who he might pick and even if not that, what type of person he's looking for to clean up the mess at the va? >> reporter: some members within the veteran circle say they would like to see sloan gibson, who is the acting va secretary, stay in the job. they say he's doing a good job. not very likely that we're going to see that. it's more likely that we'll see the president bring in someone from the outside. i am told by a senior administration official that the criteria that the president is looking for, someone who has experience in the private sector but also in the military. that is very important that this

person is able to relate to, respond to some of the issues that veterans actually deal with, and then this third is really important, t.j., that the person has strong management skills. remember, the va is the second largest federal agency and, as you point out, it is dealing with daunting problems in addition to the corrosive culture. that report also found there's a lack of transparency at the va, that that 14-day scheduling period is arbitrary. it needs to be thrown out, and that there are too few doctors and other health care professionals at the va. the person who steps into this job has a very big task before them, and i am told that an announcement could come as early as tomorrow. t.j.? >> nbc's kristin welker at the white house. thank you, as always. 37 minutes past the hour. new questions this afternoon about whether an atlanta mother had a role in the death of her 22-month-old son when he died after being left in a hot car. according to new documents from

cobb county police, harris made similar taments similar statements to the boy's father indicating she did research on hot car deaths before her son died. she has not been charged with a crime. meanwhile, the funeral for little cooper harris was held yesterday in alabama. his father, justin ross harris, called into the funeral by phone from jail. he was sobbing as he addressed mourners there. he has been charged with murder and cruelty towards a child. ross pleaded not guilty, says he accidentally left his son in the car for seven hours forgetting to drop him off at daycare. the mother says she believes her husband. coming up, we do have an update for you on a story we have been following closely since april right here on this particular newscast. the police chief in a small south carolina town who said she was fired because she's gay is back on the job today. talking to her about just how

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well, today a major development of the story we first told you about two months ago. crystal more once again the police chief of atlanta, south carolina, after being fired in april by the mayor. she was sworn in friday night. her reinstatement comes after voters on tuesday stripped the mayor of much of his power and handed power to the city council. the mayor, earl bullard, had told moore she was fired for not acknowledging a list of reprimands against her, but moore and her supporters allege she was let go because she's a lesbian. when audio recorded by a town councilman surfaced apparently of the mayor making anti-gay remarks, it only added fuel to the controversy. msnbc obtained the recording. listen to a portion. >> i would much rather have, and i'll say this to anybody's face,

i would much rather have somebody who drank, and drank too much, taking care of my child than i had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children. >> all right. now, we called and e-mailed the mayor this week. he hasn't gotten back to us. we've invited the mayor to appear on the show multiple occasions. he's told msnbc previously he cannot say for certain whether that is his voice or not in that recording. he told us in april, quote, i can assure you that the firing of chief moore had nothing to do with her sexual orientation. crystal moore now i can call her again police chief crystal moore back with us. you were reinstated just on friday night. how are you feeling today? >> yes, sir. feeling wonderful. ready to get back to work. >> ready to get back to work. have you had a conversation with mayor bullard recently? >> just this week, the day -- as

a matter of fact, friday. we were going to have the meeting at a community center 7:00 that night. the mayor was coming out of town hall and the local channel turned around and said, mayor, would you like to talk and he said, no, not at this time and i said how are you doing mayor, and he said all right, an d he got in the car and left. that was the gist of it. >> you are going to have to work together. you are in the same building. you have to cross paths at some point. what's going to happen on monday when you go into the office, he may or may not be at the office, but also he hired another police chief just in the past few days who says he's going to show up for work as well. what in the world is going to happen on monday? >> that's going to be interesting. the council members are going to be there. i'll be there. and we'll go from there. they've already informed him by e-mail, text, and phone call that he no longer has a job. there's not a position there for

him due to them terminating his contract that they thought was invalid for civil reasons. so i guess monday morning we'll see. >> do you think you can put this behind you? do you think you can work -- would you like to work with the mayor or, again, if you think this is a man who has such a problem with your sexual orientation and even fired you to the point he had such a problem with it, do you think this is somebody you can reconcile with and work with? >> i have no problem. it's going to be on his behalf that we can't work. i was working the 23 years there and the 4 months with him at the time doing my job, and i have no hatred towards him. i dislike how he treated me, but i'm ready to go on and get back where we were in our small town. i'm looking forward to working with the council, hopefully him. i wish he would have been there friday. you know, that answers some questions right there that i feel like he's not even willing

to work with the council, so i'm just -- i'm hoping and praying, i am praying that he'll, you know, put his judgments, his personal beliefs beside and let's move on forward with our town like he said he wanted to do. >> your town has gotten some negative attention because of this. a town you love to the point you have been serving it all these years on the police force. what would you like the new headline to be? if you are able to work with this mayor, can something positive come out of this? i know you have to be still hurt in some ways. you say you wish he had been there on friday and that would have a been a big thing for the mayor to show up. but are you hoping you can turn this into something positive or do you hate that your little town now has 2k3wgotten this attention because of your mayor? >> i hate that the attention has been negative, but our town stood up for what was right, and we have taken it and i have gotten e-mails, messages from everyone saying i wish other

towns would be like -- represent themselves like the town of latta. it has been awesome, the outpouring within our community and county and local counties beside us. i mean, we've gotten people coming in all over saying i wish our town would do like you, i wish our county would do like you. our small town has spoke up and done what was right and fair, and i'm proud of our citizens. i'm proud to call latta my hometown. always has been, and i think the publicity in a way, it will be wu wonderful to get back to normal, wonderful to get back to normal, but we were blessed. >> do you officially get back on the job on monday? >> i was sworn in and officially i was the chief at 7:35 on friday night. i'm going in monday, and we'll get my uniforms and everything back together. >> as far as your police force

and as far as the gentleman who was hired, that the mayor hired, the other guy who says he's going to show up to work on monday as police chief, do you know him? do you all have a previous relationship at all? >> no, sir. he's from timmonsville. i think he's been to several different agencies, kind of in and out of different agencies, so i have never worked with him and i have worked with a lot of agencies. council will handle him. they've already told him that he has no job, so we're going to leave it up to the council. >> all right. well, i can call you once again police chief crystal moore. we will see what happens on monday but always we appreciate you sharing your story, being willing to do so, and good luck at work tomorrow morning. >> thank you. keep us in your prayers. >> thank you so much, ma'am. we sure will. take a look at this, folks. a scene in san francisco. the city's gay pride parade making its way through town. this is a huge event. i have been to this a few times

in years passed. i lived in the bay area. you just saw the new york parade. that was mayor bill de blasio, andrew cuomo, you see the governor taking part in the parade. two among a host of cities having gay pride parades today. june marks the 45th anniversary of the stone wall riots that launched a modern day lgbt movement. capping off a month of celebrations. up next, a dad's devotion to his son could revolutionize treatment for type one diabetes. we'll meet the dad that invented a new medical device to save his son's life and possibly thousands of others and his is today's "big idea." jish

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kree yas. the devise has been a personal project for him for over a decade. his son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was just 11 months old. damiano wants to give himself and other parents of diabetic kids some peace of mind knowing their child's blood sugar levels will be properly monitored even when they are off on their own. associate professor of biomedical engineering at boston university, professor ed damiano himself. explain the difficulty for people and parents with type 1 diabetes the difficulty in always trying to monitor your levels. how difficult is it? we'll get into how the bionic pancreas changes that. >> typically several times a day

you have to use a blood glucose monitor, draw it up into a stick meter. they have to make decisions about how much insulin to deliver either through a needle injection or through an insulin pump. >> is that a guessing game for them in a lot of ways? >> yeah. we have sliding scale rules. there are a variety of protocols and regimens that people build for themselves but it comes through trial and error and it certainly is not that prescriptive. knowing what your blood glow koes is does not necessarily you're going to know how much insulin to give. it varies so much from day to day. >> your device now takes the guessing game out of it. it doesn't just monitor glucose. a uses a continuous glucose monitor which instead of having to check your blood sugar frequently through finger stick measurements you wear a sensor and change it once a week. it continuously streams blew ko glucose levels at this point.

a lot of mathematical formulas are built in to the app to make decisions how much insulin to deliver which lowers blood sugar. our device does two things. it has an accelerator and a brake. >> this can do it 24/7. very important. i know you are a parent. a lot of people parents of kids with type 1 diabetes, know even when the kid goes to sleep, almost seems like you're constantly worrying. how soon could this device be out there and working and available for other families? >> yeah, certainly. you're absolutely right, t.j. part of the challenge is that diabetes is relentless. it never takes a vacation. it is really a 24/7 obligation. right now all those decisions really are on the shoulders of either the parent of children with type 1 diabetes or people with type 1 diabetes themselves. it is really relentless and that's really been the challenge of it. you have to worry about going -- having low blood sugars at night. our device we finished our first outpatient studies last year in adults anded a less accidents.

this year into next year we are doing another multi-center study. this will involve adults and four sites across the country. then only one more study, a pivotal study in 2016. we are hoping this will be available or at least in front of the fda in early 2017. >> in my 45 seconds, your son is doing well now. but i guess you want to give a lot of parents the relief you've been able to give your son and your family and have some kind of peace of mind. >> true enough. i actually -- my son can't wear the device right now. he has to be in a clinical trial to do it. i'm hoping what i hope to offer my son by the time he goes to college in the fall of 2017 will be available to others as well. >> professor ed damiano, sir, congratulations. i know a lot of people will be very curious about this because a lot of families are dealing with the same thing. it is today's "big idea." we appreciate you being here and hope to talk to you down the road. >> thanks very much.

>> please, if you've got a "big idea," send it to us using the #whatsthebigidea. see you back here next saturday at 2:00 eastern time. (school bell ringing...) the 2014 chevy equinox comes with great features...

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