weighing its options. an emergency meeting at the u.n., a simulated attack in south korea and steadily increasing tensions in the pacific. back here at home, we're waiting for what could be president trump's biggest executive decision to date. will he end the obama-era rule, protecting undocumented immigrants from being brought here as children? and ten days after harvey laid waste to america's fourth largest city, houston is starting to pick up the pieces as the floodwaters recede in south texas, we're starting to get an idea of just how destructive that storm was. and how much the recovery is going to cost. good day. i'm katy tur in new york, where u.s. ambassador nikki haley made a forceful condemnation of north korea's latest nuclear test in a speech before the united nations security council this morning. >> kim jong-un's action cannot be seen as defensive. he wants to be acknowledged as a nuclear power. but being a nuclear power is not

about using those terrible weapons to threaten others. his abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. war is never something the united states wants. we don't want it now. but our country's patience is not unlimited. >> our team is in place with the very latest nbc's ron allen in seoul, south korea. and nbc chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson on the north lawn in front of the white house. over the weekend, we saw south korea do a military exercise. and we're also hearing that potentially there could be another possible missile test from north korea coming soon. what are you hearing out there today? >> exactly, katie. the response from the south koreans has, as you would expect been anger and just disgust with what the north koreans have been doing. but there's probably no level of surprise, as well. the north koreans have been on a

track for the past number of years where they have been testing greater missiles with greater sophistication and this is their sixth nuclear test and each test has gotten larger and larger, whether it was a hydrogen bomb, it was a massive explosion here yesterday that really rocked the entire region. and literally and figuratively. so the south koreans have responded with military exercises, mock bombing runs, where they simulated attacking north korea's nuclear testing site yesterday. they did a similar test a couple of days ago. a similar military exercise a couple of days ago. so these things happened, but the north koreans keep pushing forward. and, you're right, there are indications they may conduct another missile launch this weekend, september 9th is founder's day in north korea, a day when they celebrate the founding of their country, and when they elect to do big things that get attention like launch missiles and conduct nuclear tests. the question is, what can be

done to stop them. there was that huge session at the security council today, talk of more sanctions. talk of more economic pressure. the united states keeps talking about military options. but most of those military options are limited to things that would fall into the category of deterrence. we're not talking about strikes. we're not talking about offensive operations, because as just about every expert will tell you, the consequences of that could be just catastrophic here in south korea, because the north has the ability to respond. so that's where we are. this confrontation continues, it keeps escalating, and it's the world searching for ways to try ask stop the north koreans. >> ron, the white house won't rule out strikes. they say that they have everything on the table. hallie jackson, this threat as ron keeps laying out, has continued to escalate in the past few months and continues to do so. how is the white house responding today? >> reporter: so there's a couple different tracks you're seeing, katie. there's the military, the diplomatic and economic, if you will. you heard ron lay out a little bit of what's happening on the diplomatic front.

we know that there is this phone conversation between president trump and president moon in which, according to the south koreans, we have not yet heard from the white house about how that conversation went. but according to the south koreans, president trump reaffirmed what they called the ironclad commitment essentially to south korea. president moon wanted the temporary installation of thaad sped up. tougher u.n. security council sanctions. what i think is notable is what is happening on the financial front, which is this increased talk of what would in effect umt maltly end up as a trade war with china. you heard secretary steven mnuchin of the treasury, nikki haley today, president trump on twitter talking about cutting off all nations from doing business with the u.s. that also trade with north korea. obviously, this is aimed at china. severe economic consequences when you talk to analysts -- in fact, some allies of the president say they don't see that as being realistic. what could be realistic is what you have seen a little bit of, which is discussion about pulling out of a trade agreement

with south korea. notice hasn't been made yet and my sources are telling me the time line is still kind of fuzzy, not as though there is a drop dead date by which they want to make this decision but discussions are being had, at least inside the west wing and that would be potentially problematic and send a signal to an ally that the u.s. needs in this region, almost now more than ever. >> ron, what about the more than 100,000 americans who live in south korea? >> reporter: well, they're watching all of this and trying to see what happens. on the trade deal, the talk of the united states pulling out of it, that's the kind of thing that the north koreans want to hear. they want to see discord between the united states and south korea. they want to see discord between japan and the united states. that's part of the north korean strategy, is to try and divide their enemy and divide the alliance and weaken it. and so, again, the trump administration keeps doing things that are sending various signals. and a lot people in this part of

the world think the north koreans are pushing ahead because they see the trump administration as weak -- >> vulnerable. >> incompetent, unable to deal with this crisis and keep pushing the envelope. it's no accident they have done so many missile tests and keep pushing forward now on the first months of the trump administration. and the president tweets this and then his cabinet secretary says that. and the north koreans are just seizing on that. so it remains to be seen whether the trump administration is up to dealing with this. how they'll deal with it. of course, some of it may be a bluff. some may be negotiating tactics by president trump, you know, that he always talks about. but in this part of the world, there's a lot of concern about whether the united states is up to dealing with this and how they're going to deal with this. >> america is not speaking in one voice. ron allen in seoul, south korea. hallie jackson at the white house, thank you very much. joining me now is laura rosenberger, director of china and korea policy in both the state department and obama national security council.

and daly beast columnist, jordan chang, author of "nuclear showdown: north korea takes on the world" someone we like to have on when discussing this because you lay it out in easy to understand terms. gordon, i want to jump off what ron was just talking about. those in that region seeing america as not a country speaking with one voice. the president tweets fire and fury, talks about fire and fury. he tweets threats to the south koreans. he tweets threats to china. he tweets threats to the north koreans. general mattis is saying diplomacy is still on the table. secretary tillerson, the same. what is the concern, the biggest concern right now, about how we can respond? >> well, i think the big concern is our allies. for instance, you have a conservative newspaper in seoul, very pro-american, now saying the united states is not the united states that we knew. so we have unnerved the south koreans. and certainly, if there is going to be a solution short of war,

we need seoul's help, and, of course, we need tokyo's help. the one thing that has become consistent in the last couple of days is trump's tweet of yesterday when he said we stop trade with countries that deal with north korea. that's starting to become a consistent message, because we heard treasury secretary mnuchin in the afternoon say he's going to draft a sanctions package. and then as hallie jackson just said, we heard that -- this, i think, is the most significant thing from this morning, was we heard nikki haley, the u.n. ambassador, say exactly the same thing. so in an administration not known for message discipline, the message is now becoming clear and consistent. >> starting to conform. laura, if they do do that, end up putting sanctions on north korea that say that if anybody deals with them, the united states is not going to deal with that country, i'm looking right at china, for instance. how is that going to affect this escalating situation? >> well, i think what's important is to get a little bit of clarification on what the administration is actually talking about. when they talk about cutting off trade with any country that does

business with north korea, as you pointed out, doing that with china would have enormous ramifications for our economy. a lot of people have said that a statement like that, that's that broad, is really unrealistic and in some ways undermines our credibility. i think that having much more robust secondary sanctions that impose penalties on companies that are doing trade with north korea, that prevent them from access to the u.s. financial system, that would be much more along the lines of things we have seen in the past. that have had some effect. and i think that that would be the kind of thing that we could certainly see here. and i certainly hope that that's in fact what the administration is talking about. i think that that could be the kind of thing that could bring the kind of greater pressure on north korea that we certainly need to see in order to change their strategic calculus to hopefully shift their thinking in terms of the potential diplomatic off-ramp. >> doesn't that change anything? isn't that enough pressure for them? >> well, if trump were to actually do that, which i don't think that he would do, then, yeah, that certainly would be

enough pressure. but i think the thing that the administration is going to do is go after the big chinese banks for money laundering for north korea. that is something that a lot of people have been talking about. the administration now has been mentioning this. and they actually even sanctioned a small chinese bank. so, you know, that is really the first step to a solution, short of war. so i think that that's what they're going to do. and what trump very well may be doing is trying to scare everybody and then come back and do something like this, which, you know, then won't seem so bad. >> >> china seems like the linchpin here. what does china stand to benefit if north korea is allowed to continue doing these provocative tests? >> the thing that china really likes about this is that every time north korea fires a missile or detonates a nuke, we then stop talking about the things that we want to talk about with beijing. such as predatory trade practices, south china cease, cyberattacks and the rest of it. we don't talk about these things any more with china, because we're now so focused on north korea. so short-term, this is very good for beijing.

but long term, north korea is really very bad for china. >> laura, what do you do? you have a dictator in north korea who is hellbent on firing his missiles, testing his missiles, testing an h-bomb, potentially over the weekend. what do you do with somebody like that? is there a good option? >> look, north korea is a challenge that has vexed pneumon numerous administrations for both parties. there are no good options. i think what we need to do is take the kinds of stems that are assured of at least helping to manage the situation in the short-term while seeking a longer-term resolution. we know that means close coordination with our allies. i have been very concerned about potentially pulling out of the korea fta agreement. i think as hallie was highlighting earlier in the segment. this would have huge ramifications for the relationship with the south and play right into pyongyang's hand. we need to be in lockstep with our allies in seoul. we need to be in lockstep with our allies in tokyo. they are critical to ensuring we

can bring coordinated pressure. we do need -- >> skeptics would argue we have been doing that for years and nothing has changed. >> you know, i think that we have not gotten to the point of the kind of pressure that north korea needs to see in order to change their strategic calculus. kim jong-un has continued to be able to get the kind of money he seeks, supplies for his nuclear and missile programs. we know that some of that is coming through china. i hope that gordon is right, that looking at the banks that are helping to facilitate money laundering is something this administration is doing. we need to ratchet up pressure in a serious way. we have never been able to make china feel the pain it needs to feel in order to be able to shift pyongyang in the way it needs to shift. >> laura rosenberger and gordon chang, thank you for coming on today. happy labor day. after weeks of uncertainty, president trump is poised to end the program protecting 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children. but there's a catch. more on that, in a second. i didn't know where i was from ethnically.

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. a senior trump administration official tells nbc news that the president is leaning toward an ultimatum for congress that will decide the fate of a million immigrants. tomorrow the administration is expected to stop d.c.a. the program permits so-called

d.r.e.a.m.ers to stay in the country, protected from deportation for two years at a time. so far, daca has permitted 800,000 illegal immigrants to remain her legally. joining me is maria teresa kumar, president and ceo of voto latino. thanks for joining us today. >> thanks for having me. >> we're trying to gain insight about how the president feels about d.r.e.a.m.ers, and it's quite easy to do that, because he's spoken about it so much. let's take a listen. >> we're going to show great heart. daca is a very, very difficult subject for me. i will tell you. to me, it's one of the most difficult subjects. they were brought here in such a way -- it's a very, very tough subject. we are going to deal with daca with heart. >> should d.r.e.a.m.ers be worried? >> we love the d.r.e.a.m.ers. we love everybody. thank you very much. >> they're going to deal with them with heart, they love the d.r.e.a.m.ers. then again president trump made a campaign promise to undo all of the obama era executive

actions. he also told nbc's chuck todd that d.r.e.a.m.ers and their families have to go. so is it possible that congress is going to figure out a fix here? >> well, congress has to figure out a fix. we're talking about 800,000 young people that have come out of the shadows, katie, that have given in good faith their information to a government database, and now they're exposed and vulnerable. they basically said, i want to do right by the law, even though i came here when i was a minor, and i didn't have a choice. and they're contributing hundreds of billions of dollars every single -- excuse me, tens of billions of dollars every year to our local economy. we're talking about ripping away the american dream that we had promised them, and saying now we're rescinding it. so congress really has little choice. now, what does that look like? are they going to provide a small fix? today, for example, pete sessions was saying he wanted to provide a guest worker program. that doesn't cut it, because it doesn't acknowledge these young people have been to the only country they have ever known, which is the united states.

other folks are floating the idea, do they provide d.r.e.a.m.ers -- solely d.r.e.a.m.ers, not other illegal immigrants, but a pathway to ideally citizenship. it's going to be a really difficult needle to thread. and not only a political hot bed, but can you imagine being one of the mixed status families whereby providing your information to the government you have exposed your family, too. >> and there are also concerns in houston about people going to shelters, because they're worried about giving their immigration status and whether or not they're going to be protected if they do so. congress, though, has already proposed a d.r.e.a.m. act. and that's going to essentially -- i think it's passed, pave the way for d.r.e.a.m.ers to get permanent residence and a path to citizenship. it aims to cancel the removal and adjust the status of immigrants immigrants who enter as children. would you support a bill like that in place of the current

executive order? >> what we need is comprehensive immigration reform. the challenge of supporting solely the d.r.e.a.m. act, we're not looking at all of the other undocumented immigrants as well. it's going to be really difficult policy decisions. but this at the end of the day, katy, is about the lack of will in congress or will they be courageous enough to recognize it. these young people came to this country, contributing. these are what we would consider ideal americans. the ideal americans we want. they speak english, they are culturally american. they have passed background checks, and, again, contributing to the economy. >> are you saying you wouldn't support even a portion of this without comprehensive immigration reform? >> i think we need to have a conversation where we look at something that is comprehensive. the concern is that this is going to be a quick fix, but that all of a sudden leaves other millions of people left in the shadows. one of the things we have been advocating strongly is how do we make sure that we protect the d.r.e.a.m.ers, but also are inclusive of agricultural workers, for example, people

that take care of our families, people that basically are part of this other industry that may have not qualified, but may have qualified under daca, but can be part of a system. this is very different than talking about future immigration flows. this is very different from protecting our borders. we're talking about people already here. i'll give you an example, katy. the very first person deported from the -- under this president was a young woman that came here when she was 14 years old. but she was six months too old to qualify under daca. she left at 36 with two american children. by every single reasoning, she had been contributing to her country, she had been, you know -- she had been gainfully employed. but what she did not have was the fact she just missed the mark because she was six months too old. >> the thing is, trump voters, the ones that we spoke to on a daily basis, the ones that put him in office, did not want to see this stand. they thought it was an illegal program, regardless of the human toll. maria teresa kumar -- >> something to keep in mind, this executive -- obama was not the very first president.

actually, the fact they have done executive orders for immigrants has been done since the eisenhower administration. reagan did something very similar as well. so when we hear a lot of republicans talking about this is unusual by the president, it was not. there was actual precedent beforehand. >> maria teresa kumar, appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you, katy. coming up, the people of houston are hard at work getting back on their feet more than a week after harvey rolled through. but the cost is now coming into focus, and it will be well into the billions. a report from texas, right after this. their experience is coveted. their leadership is instinctive. they're experts in things you haven't heard of - researchers of technologies that one day, you will.

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it is a tale of two cities in houston right now. in some porarts, people back in their homes and starting the cleanup process. in others, they face a new evacuation order. on the west side of the city, 4,600 homes could now be under water for another week. >> it's very frustrating to see that other people can begin their cleanup. they can recover their possessions. and we are here waiting for the water to go down so we can go back in and get our possessions before they get filled with mold, which is going to happen within a matter of days, if it hasn't already. >> if it hasn't already, indeed. those living near houston area chemical plants have been told

it's finally safe to go home. the evacuation order was lifted after authorities ignited and burned six remaining trailers containing highly flammable materials on site. we have a team of reporters that are still on the ground in texas. we'll also speak with the congresswoman who represents one of the hardest hit areas. but let's start with msnbc's marianna atencio in vitaer, texas. they are still conducting rescues? >> reporter: that's right. there was a search and rescue mission on a boat that just left about a minute ago or so, which leads us to believe here in texas, southeast part of the state, there are still loved ones unaccounted for. there are still these surveillance missions that are happening. because they just simply don't know. there are people that might still be out there. now, this is between louisiana, lake charles, louisiana, and between beaumont, texas.

bidor, most of it is under water. it is practically an island right now. and, again, you see these law enforcement officials trying to go out into these communities to see if there are any people left. animals left. a lot of activity. we have even seen choppers hovering above us. there is a nearby city called roe city, as well. another 4,000 residents. we caught up with the mayor of that city today, and she for the first time was getting on a boat to try and see if, you know, her city council, what kind of shape it was in. if everyone in her city was accounted for. so as houston is sort of picking up the pieces, the smaller cities here in the southeast part of the state are still really just grappling with the aftermath of this hurricane. and even seeing if everyone is accounted for. katy? >> marianna atencio in bidor, texas. thank you very much. maya rodriguez is at houston's george r. brown convention

center. i heard there are a lot less people there than a few days ago. does that mean people are going home? >> reporter: people are starting to do that, go through that process of getting back into their homes. at the height of this, there were 10,000 people here at the convention center. now there's about 1,000. now, throughout the rest of texas, there are more than 200 shelters, we're told, that the american red cross is keeping tabs on. they are running. and there are more than 33,000 people in those shelters. that's down again from the more than 40,000 we saw at the height of the aftermath of hurricane harvey. however, the red cross says this is going to be a very long process. take a listen. >> at this point, you know, we're working really closely with our community partners to make sure that we have the resources to keep going. this is going to be a very long response into the days, weeks, months, and potentially even years to come. so we're here for the people of texas and louisiana affected by the storm. and we will be for a long time. >> and by the way, katy, this

whole thing with harvey is obviously not over yet. but the red cross tells us they are already keeping tabs on hurricane irma, and their possible response for that storm. >> threatening storm is coming up the coast, you're right. maya rodriguez, thank you so much. and joining us now is congresswoman sheila jackson lee, whose district covers downtown houston. congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us. first question, how is your district doing at the moment? >> they're fighting back, katy. they're resilient but still in great need. i left to come here a whole area of individuals that were under water, up mesa road. that's in houston, harris county, and red cross trucks were there, beginning to start feeding opportunity for them. people are trying to pull out of water, if you will. meaning that their belongings, their homes, yesterday in northeast houston we were providing meals, and it looked

like everyone's single last single opportunity or last furniture and all that they had was out on the front steps. all of their belongings, if you will, were out on the front steps. had not been picked up yet, because there's so much debris. but that means that they have nothing. so we're coming back. but we certainly need the resources. we want to thank the red cross and all of the faith leaders. and, again, katy, allow me to thank all the first responders and those who -- families who have lost loved ones and those missing and all of our military and federal workers who came down here in the united states military. we want to thank them. but we have a long, long haul. and the resources are going to be needed. and we really need a process for immigrant and nonimmigrant. we really don't need the threat and fear that some may be facing that they will not get benefits, because they're in a nonimmigrant, nonstatus oh -- in an immigrant status. >> are you concerned folks aren't coming forwards to get

what they need. aren't identifying themselves because they're worried about getting deported under the trump administration's rules? >> oh, i have real-time, real-life understanding of that. there are apartments in my congressional district. my congressional district is vast and has damage throughout it. i take up a large part of harris county and small cities, and i've already got staff on the ground who have been dealing late into the night of individuals that we're now going to have to go to where they are, because they're fearful of coming out. they're in desperate need of cleaning materials, all of their stuff is out. yes, this is a frightening time. and we have no place for that here in houston. and in texas. there's no room for that now. we want to help everyone. and i do want to say to the daca young people, if you're evacuated, with you're with your families, in school, stay in place, have no fear. we're not going to allow anything to disrupt the service that the mayor and county and state, but most of all, those of

us in congress, will be wanting to make sure that you get the red cross shelters. none of those people are using litmus tests. but if you're staying in place, we're going to give you help. we're not going to be having a standard of whether or not you are status or unstatus. people need help, and we live together here in texas very well. >> congresswoman, you greeted president trump when he was there on saturday. did you bring this up? >> i brought up the amount of money that we needed, and that we're helping all people, regardless of who they are. and we have sent letters indicating that we're opposed to state laws regarding sanctuary cities, and we're opposed to the issues dealing with the removal of the daca status. >> was he receptive? >> i hope that it's not because -- it is unclear. i hope that it's not because it's president obama's program. it was not his program. it was the relief he gave because congress would not act. meaning republicans would not act. we don't want to divide on political lines. so i'm going to be optimistic this is not going to go through

in a way that's going to harm individuals now. but i am also going to say to my friends in congress, let's do a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill. i've introduced one. many others have introduced one. let's pass $180 billion package that will help everybody in the state of texas that has been hurt by harvey. significant natural disaster, if you will, in the state, in the history of the united states. >> congresswoman sheila jackson lee, thank you so much for joining us. good luck to you. >> thank you. we are hoping for the best. thank you. >> so are we. and when we return, the pieces are set for the next big battle on capitol hill. a senior administration official and a second source familiar with the president's thinking tell nbc news president trump is leaning toward ending daca. you just heard me talk about it with the congresswoman. but he wants a six-month window for congress to come up with a fix. the clock is ticking. what can we expect, though? ♪

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efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and for all practical purposes are american kids and send them someplace else when they love this country. the notion that we would just arbitrarily, or because of

politics punish those kids when they didn't do anything wrong themselves, i think would be something that would merit me speaking out. >> that was former president barack obama at his last news con frengs just two days before trump's inauguration, saying he will speak out if daca ends. president trump is expected to terminate the obama era program tomorrow. congress will return from august recess and have six months to craft a replacement among focusing on other trump policies. let's bring in gabe, national political reporter for politico. mark fisher, and charlie savage, washington correspondent for the "new york times." gabe, president obama said that this was the one area that he would feel compelled to speak out. he's been pretty quiet since he left office. he has not gone after donald trump, even when donald trump has gone after him numerous times. if he does come out to talk about this, if donald trump does decide to end it, as it seems

like he might, what is the reaction going to be? is that going to be effective? >> well, it's a great question. a lot of folks in the democratic party have really wanted to hear a lot more from president obama over the last searven months. it seems he's going to put out a statement tomorrow. but there is going to be a clamor for him to get out and say more. what remains to be seen is how that's going to play when it comes to capitol hill, if they're really going to have to find a legislative fix for this, is he going to go up to the hill and convince people? democrats are already behind him on this. the hard part is going to be bringing republicans to his side. >> lindsey graham says he wants a financial legislative fix for it. he has already put in a bill to do so. he also added a statement saying, if president trump makes this decision, we will find a legislative solution to their dilemma. i have introduced legislation to solve this problem along with senator durbin. i look forward to working with president trump and my colleagues in congress to find a fair solution to this difficult problem. i just read the end of the

statement there. that's why you're seeing the top of the statement on your screen. but charlie, do you think it is a possibility that congress will come together to find a solution for this when they didn't do so in the past? >> it's going to be tremendously difficult. the same reasons that derailed it before in 2012 and beyond when republicans in particular were unable to even bring to a vote the larger bill. and in 2012, killed the d.r.e.a.m. act in the senate, which the house had already passed, which led to this decision by president obama to let these kids stay in. you know, a broader issue that shouldn't be forgotten about all of this, is that this program, for all of the policy merits that its supporters have cited, was one of the legally edgier things that president obama did in terms of pushing the limits of his executive authority. it was something he himself said in march of 2011. he lacked the authority to do. and then when congress didn't act, he went ahead and did it

anyway. and so i think liberals who are upset about the possible demise of this program should also consider whether they want a trump administration or a president trump to use this as an example, this sweeping invocation to not enforce the law against broad categories of people to be used for conservative ends. what jeff sessions, justice department simply not enforce environmental laws against oil companies. is that something that the constitutional system permits. so it's very complicated. >> it goes both ways. the white house is divided over this, mark. there is one contingent that says there needs to be -- needs to show compassion for the d.r.e.a.m.ers, and i'll count ivanka trump in that area, as well as kellyanne conway, according to reports. and then there is the other side, which tells donald trump that this is essentially what his base voted him in for. because this was one of the promises he made. so is the six-month delay

essentially a way for him to buy time? is it a way for him to dodge? >> sure. it's an immediate dodge, and six-month-delay that does buy some time. but toward what end? in the end, he would end up in exactly can the same place as now. torn between his instincts to be a populist and go with the people who brought him to the dance, who wanted very much to get rid of the d.r.e.a.m.ers program, versus all of the things that -- you know, all those clips that we haul out every time this topic comes up of him talking about how much he loves the d.r.e.a.m.ers. so he's really torn there. and this is a classic case in which trump is a victim of his own lack of political ideology or foundation in which basically he's saying, you know, it's the last man in the room syndrome, where people come in and persuade him of something and say you've got to stick with your base or go with your gut. and so whoever is in there last, in this case sessions and stephen miller saying you've got to stick with that base, and

they want to get rid of this program. so that's perhaps where he ends up tomorrow, rhetorically. but, you know, he's going to go back and forth on this a lot more times. >> yeah. functionally, not quite the same. bernie sanders tweeted out this. if trump decides to end daca, it will be one of the ugliest and cruelest decisions ever made by a president in our modern history. so lawmakers on both sides are speaking out about this. paul ryan said there should be some sort of legislative fix. but if he does decide to roll this back and congress does not come up with a fix, how do you go about finding and rounding up these 800 kids, essentially -- adults now, and sending them back to countries they never called home? >> yeah, well, this is going to be a nightmare politically speaking for the white house if this has to happen. but one of the problems, one of the things that democrats are really worry about is that this is feasible. because, of course, the people who have this status right now have given their information to the government. >> they have already come out of the woodwork. >> the government has their

information. they know where these people are. so this is something that a lot of democrats and folks are terrified about, because this is something the government could in capacity have. as you note, these are people going back to place they have never known. born in the united states. so politicly speaking, many republicans even are very nervous about what they will perceive as the cruelty of actually getting this done. >> charlie, congress comes back to a really packed schedule. what is going to be the next big policy they're going to try and tackle. >> they absolutely have to pass a budget and raise a debt ceiling by the end of september, or the government is going to have to shut down, and/or will start defaulting on our bonds, and the economy will crash. so mixed into that very difficult puzzle for a republican-run congress is going to be hurricane harvey relief for texas, and whether there will be offsets of the sort that republicans demanded for sandy relief when it was a blue state that was in trouble. and then, of course, dreams of tax reform, which may end up collapsing just into a tax cut,

all swirling around at the same time, even before this immigration issue we have been talking about gets injected into the mix. very busy month. >> does congress have enough time to do it? >> this congress has -- sorry, go ahead. >> there's time, and there's certainly sentiment on both sides of the aisle for something to happen. there are a lot of lobbyists in town who believe that something will happen. but once again, the republican party is very much divided. and i think with tax reform just as we have seen with the d.r.e.a.m.ers, you're going to have a part of the party that wants to hue to what the trump base wants and part effort party that wants to stick with traditional republican values and help out big business and so on. and that's an unbridgeable divide on many issues. >> mark fisher, charlie savage, gabe and devin adebtee thank you very much for being here today. >> thank you. when we come back, we have talked about the d.r.e.a.m.ers all day. it's about time we talked to

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jacob spoke with some of the so-called dreamers and he joins us now. >> about 220,000 dreamers that came to the united states that came to the united states with their parents, as young children, illegally. they're here in california and they want to stay here. they talk about this not as undocumented immigrants but at students, family, friends, and they're waiting to hear what president of the united states is going to say and if that means deportation for them. take a look. >> this is cal state fullerton. the southern california university says it's home to over 40,000 students and so many, around 900, are undocumented. they created what they call a dreamer resource center just for them. >> i'm daniella. >> first year physics student

d daniella, was brought to the united states when she was 2. >> i speak english better than spanish. >> yes. >> yes. >> but you're at risk of being deported to mexico. >> what will you speak if you go to mexico? >> spanish. >> you have younger siblings. >> were you siblings born in america? >> so if something happened? >> they would probably stay here maybe with a family relative. >> how do you deal with this event? you seem so cool and collected. >> yesterday i did nothing but cry with everyone around me, but you have to -- >> today is a new day. >> a harder day. >> and you're coming in to what, do homework? just going on as planned. >> yeah, it's tough. >> every day life doesn't stop either for miriam and pablo. >> you grew up in southern

california like me. you went to high school in southern california like me. you have your family in southern california. like me. have you ever to mexico other than being born there? >> never. >> where would you be deported to? >> i would assume mexico too, but in the back of my head i would think maybe i would go to another country. >> i would like to transfer to another school to finish my education. >> where would you do that? >> canada, france, i don't know. >> you want to study abroad, but for a different reason than most. >> yeah. >> so now you wait. >> it's just a waiting game. ever since the election, every day that goes by you just think about it more. >> students faced with the prospect of a forced return to a life they have never known. >> katie, it's an unbelievable

waiting game that these young people across the country have to go through, and if president trump does indeed do what we are at nbc news reporting, that we expect him to do, basically push this off, punt for about six months to see if congress comes up with a fix, the big question is what happens to these daca students. 1400 a day have to reapply for their daca status. if there is a stopgap measure that allows them to stay in the united states for the next six months as they figure it out. >> those kids grew up in southern california, went to cool in southern california like me and you. that one gentleman never been to mexico, i have been to mexico more than he has. what will happen to these kids? >> they literally, katie, pablo the gentleman you were talking about said to me this is

something he thinks about all of the time, but it is something the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country have faced for much of their existence here in the united states. it's a way of life. it's just how they have to think about their daily existence in the united states. tomorrow is another milestone and tomorrow will be another one after that. >> thank you, jacob, that was a great package. we'll take a quick break but when we come back, good news for a change. a welcome announcement from across the pond. you're watching msnbc. red of bed with extra monthly fees. we want hd. and every box and dvr. all included. because we don't like surprises. yeah. like changing up the celebrity at the end to someone more handsome. and talented. really. and british. switch from cable to directv. get 4 rooms with hd, dvr,

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prepare yourselves for more royal babe his ter yay. duke and duchess kate are expecting their third child. sorry about this for all of you guys that really love prince harry, this third child will bump in front of him to be fifth in line to the throne but i don't think harry is too upset about it. it is now the top of the hour here and it is time to reset the news. north korea's most powerful

nuclear test yet. south korea says to expect another possible icbm launch this weekend to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of north korea. the ambassador of the u.n. and nikki hailey broached the topic, but also spoke about the idea of having a trade war with china so they will do more. the united states will look at every country that does business with north korea as a country giving aide to their wreck less and dangerous nuclear intentions. >> let's start with ron allen who is in south korea and