i hope it works out for china. that coming from president trump a short time ago. that is going to do it for me this hour here on "msnbc live." i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we begin with the breaking news from hong kong. police are arresting protesters who have shut down hong kong's international airport, one of the largest in the world, forcing flights to be canceled for the second day in a row. we're at the airport. our experts are gathering. janice mackie frayer, the standoff has continued for more than 48 hours and obviously the police and protesters are if gauged. tell me what you know from your vantage point? >> reporter: it's been percolating for a couple days. the authorities yesterday and today making that unprecedented

decision to cancel all flights out of this airport. it's one of the busiest hubs in the world. in addition to the thousands of protesters you had on both the departures and arrivals level here, you had a lot of dazed passengers who have been wandering around, wondering when they're going to be able to get on their flight. protesters were pushing for their demands, saying they would not leave. in particular, they're looking for an independent inquiry into what they call police brutality. this went on for a number of hours throughout the evening. then the mood did start to shift. there were protesters who caught who they believed were undercover chinese police officers. became quite violent over the course of a few hours. the crowd would surge and cheer and then go quiet. then there was the arrival of the police. signaled first by the flashing

lights outside of the airport terminal and then this scramble to try to get these undercover -- what we believe two undercover police officers out. a lot of scuffles. extremely violent, but we have seen this deterioration not only over the past 48 hours, but over the past ten weeks. the protests that started in june as almost family rallies, people i talked to then, talked of being there with purpose and with spirit. and to see the deterioration over a number of weeks can into what, at times, has been perceived at mob violence. all the time we've had china sitting by and people waiting to see what china's move would be, knowing that beijing would not let this situation linger for much longer. they've been telegraphing that the past few days.

officials using words like terrorism. state media depicting the protesters as rioters. those videos that state media was showing of the p.l.a. practicing and going through drills just across the border. there was the expectation that the police would move in here tonight to end what started here 48 hours ago. andrea? >> thank you so much. bill neely is in london. of course, he's been watching this so closely. it's extraordinary that it's gone on this long, that beijing has let this happen for so long. the military has not been brought in. it's so far a police action. what is your perspective? >> reporter: i think you're absolutely right. when i was in hong kong a few weeks ago when there were the protests outside the main government legislative building, we thought the same thing. i mean, both beijing and the hong kong authorities have been trying to play this down for a very long time.

initially ignoring these protests all together then moving in lightly really -- although that's not what the protesters are saying. they're accusing the police of using pepper spray, of using plastic bullets. they want an inquiry into the police's behavior. but beijing is terrified of the situation getting out of control. obviously, it does not want to make the mistake it made in 1989. although it doesn't call that a mistake, the massacre at tiananmen square. carrie lam is beleaguered. she has, remember, withdrawn the original bill or law that caused these protests in the first place. that was about the extradition of anyone that beijing wanted from hong kong.

that's been suspected but it hasn't been withdrawn all together. look, these people that we're seeing in these pictures are no longer interested suimply in that. that would class this not as a revolution but they're looking 20 years into the future. they want china to abide by the agreement that it signed with britain when hong kong was handed over, that it will respect one country, two systems. the people for the next number of decades will have the right to protest and will have all the rights that were enshrined in that agreement. they believe that the chinese have been rolling back on that. china wants to assert its authority too quickly. that's what this is all about. it's a fight mostly by young people in their late teens and early 20s. those are the ones who have been occupying by and large this airport against a beleaguered hong kong police force.

just over the horizon there is a specter of the people's liberation army, that beijing very, very reluctant i think to use that kind of force. no live ammunition has been used in these protests so far. some protesters have been killed, but not by direct action of the police itself. one final thought, you know i think what you're seeing shows not the famous control that we imagine beijing has over hong kong, but its lack of control. it is worried principally about these protests spreading to other cities on the mainland. what it cares about most in its one party, one state, one regime system is dissent and control breaking down. what it cares about most of all is control and stability. of course, that's what we have not seen in hong kong for about two months now. andrea? >> exactly. bill neely, this is why it's all

so remarkable. ken delainian here, covers national security and foreign policy with me. in talking with american officials, they've been watching president xi and watching his responses. the president was just interviewed and we'll turn that tape very quickly. he was in new jersey transferring from the helicopter to air force one on route to pennsylvania. he hopes no one will get hurt among the tensions and hopes it will work out for liberty. this administration has been notably silent on the human rights issues all along regarding china. they've viewed china as an economic and strategic partnership or adversary -- in all of their relationships with totalitarian regimes speaking out on behalf of human rights. >> that's why there's a dangerous context in washington in which the situation is

playing out. you have a trade war with china. you have donald trump imposing tariffs and his previous comments about hong kong, calling it an internal chinese matter. mitch mcconnell has been more aggressive, saying that the world is watching. we have not seen language like that from president trump. as you and i have talked about, western intelligence agencies are watching closely to see what president xi will do. there's a thinking he doesn't want to order in the chinese military. we're seeing paramilitary forces, police forces assembling in large numbers. >> we should point out if bill neely, these pictures appear to be live pictures and it appears to be there is a circle around -- i can't tell if it's a

suspected undercover policemen or a protester. bill, chime in if you can discern what you think we're watching here. >> reporter: yeah, i think we be been seeing this for parts of the last half hour. the protesters surround people that they believe were taking photographs of them, that they believe were plain clothes undercover police officers. you can see obviously there's a lot of chaos and pushing. but i think a lot of the protesters are trying to hold back some of the more violent elements of the crowd who would like to do this man harm. you can see a red umbrella there. the umbrellas -- >> bill, let's just pause for a moment. i think there's a sky news colleague on the ground. let me listen. >> reporter: they could be cleared and taken away. they then came straight in to this -- inside the departures

and arrivals and started arresting people and taking them away. that would suggest to me it wasn't just people running away. those people knew who they were after and they were taken away. >> i want to interrupt you and saying i'm seeing pictures you're maybe not seeing of the individual lying on the floor. some of the protesters have been beating him and stamping on him. the pictures are not good. we're not going to show them at the moment. other of the profitetesters are keeping others away from them. in fact a paramedic i can see has just arrived on the scene. this is not a good situation and clearly a very dangerous and volatile one. >> reporter: it is.

it's not a good thing for them to have done. it's not clever. the police have got to react to this, right? they're not quite sure what to do or even a plan, i suspect, an operation in an international airport that's still attempting to function and still has civilian people in it. i think they're worrying that could come later. what they do want is an officer to be returned to them. what they do not want is anyone to die. and he's been there many, many hours now. he's been pretty beaten up. he's not in good shape at all r. we understand his injuries are pretty bad. it looks terrible to the outside world and it looks terrible to many of the people of hong kong who might genuinely support the protest movement and hate this type of thing. it's bad enough the demonstrators were having running battles. if something happens to this gentleman and he dies, i think there would be a massive

backlash from the general community saying things are totally out of control. you can't possibly take -- you've lost all moral high ground when you do this kind of thing. whether the police come in and clear this, we just don't know. right now, the critical thing is to try to get to them. the police have no one to deal with. that's the problem. there's nobody they should negotiate with and say you carry on, we want them out. there's no one to talk to. everything is done on social media, everything's done in small groups downstairs and everyone moves together. trying to get a message saying we need this guy out as quickly as possible and you lot can stay is the message they want to send but i don't know how they're going to do it. we're going to be stuck here for a while. maybe paramedic groups -- an ambulance has arrived, i can just see at the top of the ramp. maybe they're here and they can say this guy is going to die you've got to let us take him away. very volatile. only thing in the favor of the

police, the numbers have dropped in the last hour or so. a lot of the youngsters here who saw some of the fighting thought enough is enough and have gone away from here. much less people -- >> and as we've been following through sky news, our colleague and ben neely in the hong kong airport as well, wendy sherman, former top state department official is joining me by phone. among other concerns that china has -- china by the way i should tell you is protesting against some strong language that came from u.n. human rights officials and china is saying that this is a domestic concern. rejecting the wrongful statement on hong kong saying it interfered in china's domestic affairs. sends the wrong signal to violent criminal offenders.

and at the same time obviously we know that president xi is watching this carefully. he has not reacted with the military power, with the p.l.a., the people's republic army that they could have. soifr it so far it's been a police action. they have to be concerned about what's happening in taiwan across the strait, which is -- >> very much so. i'm watching the feed live on my computer. this clash is something that many of us have believed was going to happen at some point. it does concern me that the military is coming together which is not far from hong kong. i think the chinese are trying to be careful here and obviously want an international airport over because it affects their economy. but the real downstream problem here, the very deep problem here

is that in january taiwan holds its elections. and there is a very big press in that election towards independence. and china, more than anything else as xi jinping has become president for life, is to try to consolidate chinese control. that was their response, which is basically hong kong is an internal concern, it doesn't belong to the international community. you have no right to speak. that's not true because hong kong and its handover from great britain was allowed some au autonomy and to continue. china wants to bring everybody in. this would be a great historic moment for xi jinping. i hope china would not try to take taiwan militarily, they can use hybrid means to take control of taiwan.

that would create an enormous challenge for donald trump, for the united states congress. always been a big supporter of taiwan. whether the american public would support a robust response remains to be scene where taiwan is concerned. and hong kong may deteriorate very quickly here, which would send a very serious message to taiwan. so in what china is doing here, they're speaking to hong kong, but they're thinking about what messages they're sending to taiwan. they want to make sure they can show taiwan that they're going to remain in control >> as you've been speaking, we're watching live pictures as medical teams are trying to give medical aid incircled by protesters, some of whom

protected this man. it's a dramatic scene. the points you're making about taiwan, i was in the strait in the 90s, the last time there were live fire exercises across the strait. we sent a carrier group. i went half a mile away in the south and watched how in the middle of one of the worst crisises -- i guess that was the worst military crisis potentially between the mainland and taiwan in decades, the american fleet was in the middle of it. there were fishing expeditions back and forth across the strait because the southern mainland fishermen and the taiwan fishermen and these villages were exchanging fish in the middle of the waters to go back to taiwan to be traded and to be consumed there.

the cross strait economic ties between taiwan and the mainland have been robust. we're talking about billions of dollars. this is obviously key. key to what beijing is thinking as well. >> very much so key. and there are big decisions. i think very -- a lot of thoughtful diplomacy should be going on here. in the earlier hour, ben rhodes spoke to the importance of the u.s. consulting with its partners and allies. the u.n. has called for restraint on all sides. the president has said i hope it turns out well. but it would be important for the president not to do anything to exacerbate this. he has pulled back on some of the tariffs that he was going to impose on china.

largely because of his concerns of an american recession and the american stock market. what really is at stake here is a huge, huge security play here by the chinese. as you point out from your own experience in taiwan, at an incredibly tense moment. it's a tense moment we may face again in the near future. that would be devastating, not only in security terms and in terms of democracy, but in terms of the international economy. >> and richard haas joining us, former state department and national security council official in the bush administration. we've never seen anything like this in hong kong. i was there for the handover, which was so extraordinary, at the end of 1999. this is something that i don't think beijing, london, or the

u.s. ever envisioned. >> well maybe. but i was there a few months ago and it was the most depressing visit i had ever had to hong kong. there was a real sense that the whole one country, two systems formula, the idea that hong kong would keep its independent character, that that was essentially dying. and the extradition debate, the whole confrontation over that of a few weeks back, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. and it's now become much more fundamental. i think particularly for young people in hong kong, if you're 25 or 30 years old, you're looking at your entire life. and the question is what kind of a life are you going to have if you stay there? so i think this is really now a battle where it's very hard to compromise. what's at stake is not simply hong kong, but also taiwan. i would add to that one other thing, the political character of the mainland. this now has become a symbolic

defiance of authority, of xi jinpi jinping. it's the virus from the mainland's point of view. this represents the dangerous virus of liberalism. people not accepting the absolute authority of the communist party. every hour this goes on, the stakes rise. i think it actually makes it more, not less difficult, for the authorities on the mainland to compromise. >> you were, of course, in the white house the last time we saw this kind of political protests. i don't know how much visibility the mainland population has to what's being seen here. presumably some. the last time, of course, was the crack down with tiananmen. it's a different government now. how much will this be transmitted to people on the mainland? >> they're going to try to limit it as much as they can. what you're seeing is an attempt -- that's the word, to

spin it -- just a bunch of radicals and agitators. indeed, try to whip up a kind of mainland patriotism. so if the authorities do have to use considerable force against hong kong, that the sympathy will be more with the government than with those who are seen as somehow disrupting china's economy and hurting china's reputation in the world. but this is potentially much bigger than tiananmen given the numbers involved. it's not just students. it's not as dangerous as widespread worker protests on the mainland would be. this is more significant. and for the administration, it actually once again puts front and center the dilemma to what extent do we support this sort of a thing. how do we balance our interest in human rights and democracy with our desire to have a decent relationship with the mainland? what's different now, and you

know this as well as anybody between now and the time of tiananmen. now we have an administration that doesn't even pay lip service to support the democracy and human rights. secondly, it comes at the time where the u.s./chinese relationship is deteriorating rather than building. so there's actually -- we can see this playing out in lots of ways. so far i would expect congress to be much more critical of what the mainland might do than i would the administration. >> all very important points, richard, former ambassador to south korea, chris hill who has dealt with the chinese during the six party talks on north korea as well and knows that region. the significance of the hong kong airport, that was a jewel in the crown with the opening of that airport some years back.

so this is a very important symbolic step the protesters have taken. a real direct threat to beijing. >> there's no question that the narrative of hong kong has gone very badly. originally it was a great model for an eventual taiwan solution. but certainly for anyone who has been in hong kong recently as richard said, you don't sense any optimism. it's quite the contrary. more importantly, the chinese have made it clear to american businesses and others that they want to see investment in shanghai. there's much more of an effort to make shanghai the financial capital, rather than hong kong the financial capital of china. so i think the taking of the airport does have symbolic meaning because the sense is that somehow hong kong is not

going to be what it was supposed to be, first of all a model of taiwan, secondly a city that would move ahead without any kind of economic hiccup. and i think what's really happening is, you know, we don't see this so often in the u.s., but certainly xi jinping has concerns about age old forces in china where the center is having trouble holding the various provinces. so hong kong becomes a symbol of this. as richard said it doesn't look like there's any widespread worker unrest in china. but there is widespread grumbling in china. perhaps not nearly what's been going on in hong kong. i think for a number of reasons, this has culminated in this moment. meanwhile we have a u.s. government that's utterly incapable of having a conversation with the chinese and then somehow investing china in a future world outlook.

it's about trying to put china down. i think the result is the chinese leadership has basically said we've got nothing to lose on this. >> listen in and stewart ramsey, our colleague from sky news is right there i believe. let's listen to the coverage. >> reporter: the airport was effectively closed. arrivals continued to happen and have been continuing right up to this evening. till the last hour or so. on the numbers front. look this side, i mean, it's got to be 150 maybe i suppose milling around. probably quite a lot of press in there. then if we come back this way, row g is where most people have gathered because that's where the chinese, alleged chinese policeman was being held.

very few people in this section, the next section. we're down to a few hundred now. if the police were thinking of coming in, i'd suggest that probably it's best to do it when there's hardly anyone here. we're told that for tomorrow that they're going to try and have a way of stopping people entering the airport if they haven't got a ticket. now that exists in many countries, particularly in india, turkey as well. you can't go in if you don't have a ticket. that doesn't happen here. it's going to be quite complicated limiting people who have access through the metro and the rail. road checks can happen to the degree they're beginning already. you can put those in place. that all takes a bit of time. we're told that that is what is

being planned from tomorrow in an effort to stop the airport being closed for the third time in three days. >> stewart, let me just interrupt you, stewart. just to bring viewers up to date. we're seeing the aftermath, really, where stewart is right now of a very nasty situation where what the protesters say was an undercover police officer was discovered among the protesters. they tied him up, they started to beat him. they start to stamp on him. it was only after some considerable time that paramedics were able to get to him and the protesters -- some of the protesters still trying to beat him. others trying to protect him. those paramedics were able to offer some help. >> as we saw the paramedics did get that suspected under cover

operative, police officer out of there after he had been trampled by some of the protesters and protected by others of the protesters. and standing by on the phone is peter baker, white house correspondent of the "new york times." sorry in the "new york times" newsroom now, white house correspondent peter baker. you and i have covered foreign policy and the president's relationship with china. the tariffs. the growing difficulties between the u.s. and china. i wanted to play a little bit of the president today in new jersey as he was departing for pennsylvania. he was asked about what was going on in hong kong. i'll talk to you on the other side. >> the hong kong thing is a tough situation, very tough. we'll see what happens. but i'm sure it will work out. i hope it works out for everybody. including china. i hope it works out for everybody, including china.

i hope it works out peacefully. i hope nobody gets hurt. i hope nobody gets killed. >> peter baker, u.s. policy toward china has been, you know, front and center. negotiations stalled, not going anywhere. tariffs suspended. a lot of angst going on between washington and beijing at a time when beijing has this enormous domestic problem. >> that's exactly right. you know, this is a president who has been confrontational with china. it's on issues of economics and trade, not on issues of human rights or security. he's made it clear from the beginning of his administration that that's not the area he plans to make a priority. he does not intend to intervene in what he sees as a domestic issue of other countries, no matter how badly they treat their owns citizens. he's not a cheerleader for democracy activists around the

world. he saids th he sees that as not the united stat states' business. he's not planning to take sides, he's not going to encourage the protesters. if anything, he has, you know, expressed some sympathy for the government. >> and, peter, at this time, also, other leaders around the world are watching u.s. policy towards a lot of these leaders. not just the chinese. when we travel with secretaries of state now, they no longer insist on having news conferences. put pressure on foreign leaders the way they have in the past. >> look every president has to balance the needs of the country versus any concern for democracy or human rights in other countries. that's a perennial tension for any administration. at least as you say, they often

traditionally make an effort to speak out in favor of those who are fighting repressive regimes. that's always been an issue. particularly an issue with china. we have such an extensive and important relationship with them economically. rarely have you seen a president not saying anything at all the way president trump has chosen to handle the situation. >> nick burns is joining us. nick burns, of course, former top state department official and ambassador to nato. nick, how would you handle this if you were in government right now? >> i think that nearly all our modern presidents would have come out for the right of the people of hong kong to maintain their rights. it's inherent, they're written

down in the june 1997 handover agreement between the united kingdom and china. the people's republic of china. these people deserve to have their democracy kept intact. and for the president to say today that he favors essentially both sides, that was reminiscence of his disgraceful statements about charlottesville two years ago. america, our voice is silent. there are protests in both hong kong and also in russia in the two leading authoritarian countries in the world. it weakens us and it's a disservice to the people fighting for their freedoms in both places. >> what do you think the likelihood is that president xi will crack down stronger if this continues? >> i think there's a very strong probability that the chinese are going to do something, if in fact, the airport can't be

opened and other public services are shut down, it would give a pretext for the authorities to come in and use physical force in hong kong. that would be a disaster for the people of hong kong. it would be a crisis for the trump administration. it would be equivalent to what happened in tiananmen square in beijing during that democracy movement back nearly 30 years ago. for the u.s. to be silent is disgraceful given the ethos of the united states. our democratic base. these are not easy issueses f f any president to handle. there's only one place for us to be. and the president is trying to stake out a place that is more in favor of the government in beijing than the protesters in hong kong. and for the leading democratic country in the world not to stand up at this time is a very great mistake in my judgment.

>> ambassador nick burns, thank you so much. we'll continue monitoring the situation in hong kong. bring you the latest. up next, the acting director of i.c.e. defending those mississippi raids in an exclusive interview today with nbc's gabe gutierrez. stay with us, you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. (ding) hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief... what?! i'm here to steal your car because, well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪

hi, do you have a travel card? we do! the discover it® miles card. earn unlimited 1.5 miles on every purchase, plus we'll match your miles at the end of your first year. you'll match my miles? yeah! mile for mile! and no blackout dates or annual fee. nice! i was thinking about taking a scuba diving trip! i love that. or maybe go surfing... or not. ok. maybe somewhere else. maybe a petting zoo. can't go wrong. can't get eaten. earn miles. we'll match 'em at the end of your first year. plus no annual fee or blackouts. the discover it® miles card. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

billions of problems. dry mouth? parched mouth? cotton mouth? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath oral rinse and lozenges. help relieve dry mouth using natural enzymes to soothe and moisturize. so you can... breathe easy, there's therabreath at walmart. welcome back. the white house cracking down on both legal and illegal

immigration, this morning nbc's gabe gutierrez spoke exclusively to acting i.c.e. director matthew alvez, tackling a range of topics including this video of an 11-year-old girl crying after her father was detained during a massive roundup in mississippi last week. >> you've seen this video? >> i have, yes. >> what would you tell that little girl? >> well, i don't think i would speak to the little girl. i'd speak to the parents and i would speak to the community at large. look, i'm a parent. most of our officer and agents are parents. some of the most difficult things that we have to do in our job is to enforce the laws involve the separation of parents from children. every law enforcement has to deal with that at some point in their career. many officers on a daily basis. when an officer goes in to arrest someone for a crime of domestic violence, the children there are going to be crying. we conduct our operations with professionalism and humanity.

we try our best to minimize the impact on the innocent people of this situation. however, we have to enforce the law. every law enforcement agency enforces the law against individuals who have broken it. the parents or the individuals that are breaking the law are ultimately the ones that are responsible for placing their children in this situation. >> joining me now is nbc's gabe gutierrez and washington post political reporter eugene scott. gabe, i was watching that. i don't know how you kept your cool. because the parents are to be blamed for breaking the law? first of all, there was no enforcement discernible against the employers. the timing of the raid has been questioned. the insensitivity of proceeding with the raid the same day as the el paso visit by the president to comfort a terrorized hispanic community after what happened in el paso days earlier. and yes he's a law enforcement

officer, but why didn't they contact mississippi child services in advance? why didn't they bring in hhs? >> and so i pressed the acting director on a few of those things. they say they didn't have to contact child protective services and they did contact school districts. >> not in advance. >> the director says because this is a law enforcement operation, they argue that, you know, for law enforcement operations you can't tip anyone off. that was his argument. now i did press him on why more of the employers were not charged. he deflected that saying it's part of an ongoing investigation. several days ago, the acting dhs director was on "meet the press." he called the timing unfortunate, just a few days after el paso o. but the i.c.e. acting director insists in his view this operation in mississippi, he says went off without a hitch. that's what he told me. >> it's just incredible.

you know, i can take they say that their job is law enforcement. but there are policymakers, kevin mcallenen at the top. i know they didn't tell the white house because they wanted to avoid leaks. for someone in the white house not to have said this is back timing -- in fact the president was asked about this by kristen welker on friday. he said that they were happy about the deterrent value. >> correct. that's something that's significant. quite a while now this has been seen by many as a deterrent. the administration hasn't come out and said it. on friday, president trump called this a deterrent and i asked the acting i.c.e. director whether he agreed with that. he suggested that yes, he does agree that this is a deterrent. not the video of that little girl per se, but the law enforcement actions. >> the ripple effects throughout the community. eugene, the director of the hhs

was on npr today. let's play that audio. >> would you agree that emma lazarus' words etched on the statue of liberty, give me your tired your poor are also part of the american ethos? >> they certainly are r. give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge. >> okay. he's not -- i misspoke. he's not homeland. he's a top immigration official. so basically we're saying green cards if you've got the money, if you've got private healthcare. so don't send me your tired, send me your wealthy. you know, the struggling masses. >> it's a deep understanding for why a lot of immigrants come to the united states in the first place. one of the main reasons is to get a better way of life to have economic prosperity and employment opportunities. many of them if they had these where they were they wouldn't be coming here in the first place.

one of the things that's surprising about this new hard line approach to immigration coming from the trump administration and the right is that it was not effective for them in 2018 when you think about the fact they tried to double down on the immigrants coming from central america, the caravans to the u.s. voters overwhelmingly decided that was not something that they wanted to get behind combined with the children in the cages. it's looking like these i.c.e. raids, which we can expect more of could be the new cages issue for the right that causes people on the left to vote against them in 2020. i know that the president believes this works really well and is effective with keeping his base near him. it pushes swing voters away. >> this is all steven miller, you know, the business of changing the requirements for green cards in october, unless there's some legal action that impedes between now and then. it changes the whole character of immigration of what's been an

historic not only the asylum seeking which is international treaty and american law. burt it's the dna of america. it's my grandparents,i i don't know about the rest of you. >> that was accident, was it not? we kept healing the administration speaking against illegal immigration. and i asked the acting i.c.e. director and he said no, that was a different department. this is definitely -- i asked him whether we can expect to see more of this in the coming months as we head into next year, as we head into the election. i.c.e. insists they do these types of operations every day. certainly it appears that we could see more of these. that president himself in the

last several months had discussed i.c.e. raids where thousands of undocumented immigrants were supposed to be held. we should see in the future whether any of these larger raids, whether we'll continue to see them. >> all your reporting has been extraordinary. thank you for bringing us this interview. i know we'll see a lot more on nbc news tonight. thank you so much. appreciate it. with only two weeks left to qualify for the next debate it's crunch time for the one percenters in the democratic field hoping to make the stage. so far only nine contenders have qualified and reached the tl threshold. joining me now is steve bullock. governor, thank you very much. let me ask you whether you're getting close. i know you've got a couple polls to go and time is running out. >> yeah, i'm working every day, andrea. i have a ways to go. i think the dnc rules were well-intentioned. but what it's done is allowed

like a billionaire to buy a spot on the debate stage. tom steyer spent $130 million to get 130,000 donors. we're spending money online as opposed to talking voters. the republican party all throughout the year before, 2015, had a 1% threshold. it's a rough day when democrats are less inclusive than republicans. >> and doesn't what tom steyer did negate the whole intent of the rules as they were constructed? do you think there's any way to reach out to tom perez and get this changed? do you feel you're not going to make the debate stage? >> well, i do hope folks will talk to the dnc. because i think the intent was good, right, to show that we have grass roots support. but grass roots support and elections are about the people talking to people. not billionaires being able to spend, you know, a whole lot of money to buy facebook ads, and

that's what all the campaigns are starting to do instead of spending that money talking to folks. so i don't think, you know, as well intentioned it might be, it's not too late for the dnc to say -- especially throughout this whole year when what we're talking about is poll thresholds, which are in the margin of error. what we're doing is being much more exclusive or kicking people out unlike what even the republican national committee did. it's not too late as we go through this to say let's make sure that it's been every other year, every other cycle. it's the early state voters who take a large field and sift it down. >> there's a lot of talk now about reviving or trying to renew the assault weapon ban. it's not passed the house. it is very controversial among even some moderate democrats. there is talk that they could lose their seats. even lose control of the house if they were to pass this.

but most 2020 candidates believe that this is something that really is needed, given -- and the magazines, of course, the high capacity magazines. you're from montana. let's just take your temperature today. where do you think we need to go on new gun laws? >> i wish we could get to the point where we're talking about this as a public health issue. i was with the governors in the white house shortly after parkland. the president said, well, we should do universal background checks and sort of chided the governors saying i'm not sure why you're so afraid of the nra. since parkland even i have had to lower the flag seven times for mass shootings. so the vast majority of republicans, the vast majority of gun owners believe in universal background checks. red flag laws haven't been controversial, even in states like indiana. and i think, you know, even major sporting goods stores like

dick's and walmart are not using these assault weapons. they're not used for self-defense. they're rarely used for hunting. it's time we stop selling them as a country. >> correct me whether actually onboard on the bans? i'm sorry? >> i am. i do think, you know, we've had enough of these mass shootings, that it's time that we stop the sale of them, that we ban the sale of them. >> and the magazines? >> the high capacity, like the, you know, no hunter needs a 30 bullet magazine. >> what about the president saying one thing about the background checks and the mint the nra calls him he seems to back down. congress still not in session. republicans holding out. they're still on their summer break. isn't it possible that again they'll just wait this out? and by the time people come back in the fall it'll be too late to get any kind of action?

>> yeah, right, until we lower the flags the next time. and i think that you hit on it. you know, when i was growing up in montana, the nra was a gun safety hunting and shooting organization. now it's nothing more than a dark money field organization that divides us and uses this as a wedge. at the end of the day, you know, when the president came out right after el paso and even said we should have universal background checks or at least introduce that, let's actually start talking to the kids and the gun owners and folks all across this country who say, you know, about 22% of guns are transferred outside of the check system? we ought to be able to certainly close that loophole for sure. >> good luck, governor steve bullock. please get back to us on how you do in this qualification round. thank you very much, sir. >> i'd be happy to come on every day, andrea.

thanks for having me. >> thank you. that's great. and coming up next, epstein's island. fbi agents swarm over jeffrey epstein's private island in the caribbean as federal prosecutors promise to bring coconspirators to justice. stay with us. rst person to surve alzheimer's disease is out there. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. but we won't get there without you. join the fight with the alzheimer's association. let's see, aleve is than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain.

and i don't add trup the years.s. but what i do count on... is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. boost® high protein. be up for life.

hey! i live on my own now! i've got xfinity, because i like to live life in the fast lane. unlike my parents. you rambling about xfinity again? you're so cute when you get excited... anyways... i've got their app right here, i can troubleshoot. i can schedule a time for them to call me back, it's great! you have our number programmed in? ya i don't even know your phone anymore... excuse me?! what? i don't know your phone number. aw well. he doesn't know our phone number! you have our fax number, obviously... today's xfinity service. simple. easy. awesome. i'll pass. the fbi is expanding its investigation into jeffrey epstein's life, death, and the possible coconspirators now under renewed scrutiny for

potential roles in his alleged crimes. officials are focusing on the circumstances surrounding epstein's apparent suicide, learning new details about the night of his death including who was working and whether they had the proper qualifications. this as federal agents finally raid epstein's private caribbean island searching for evidence that could tie members of his inner circle to criminal activity. joining me now nbc justice correspondent pete williams and msnbc contributor barbara mccray a former federal prosecutor. welcome both. pete, where do we stand on the investigation of just what was going on in the manhattan jail the night of his death? >> that's the focus right now for the fbi and the inspector general. they're looking at two separate things. the inspector general investigation will look at prison procedures and whether they were following the rules. we already know they weren't. we already know that the checks weren't happening as often as they should have. should have been a cell mate. there wasn't. some of the people who are on duty were not fully authorized to be corrections officers.

that's all in one thing they're looking at but they -- we're told there were other irregularities as well at the prison and we are trying to learn more about what those might be. now, the fbi obviously investigates crimes. that is a different thing. so one of the fbi's focuses right now is, did jeffrey epstein in fact commit suicide or was it some other sort of thing that led to his death? if the medical examiner concludes it was suicide, that doesn't end the fbi's work because they're going to want to know whether anybody was covering up anything, whether any kind of obstruction of the investigation, so those are all questions that have to be answered. and this is going somewhat slowly we're told because not everybody that's being questioned is being fully cooperative according to officials. some are getting legal counsel and that complicates the situation. for the inspector general there is a requirement the justice

department employees and people who work in the prison are employees of the justice department. they have to answer the ig's questions though i'm not sure, the fact that some of the employees were unionized how that affects and complicates it but that is another factor as well, andrea. >> that really is complicating. we reported yesterday, thanks to pete and tom winter and the whole team that some of his lawyers were getting criminal defense lawyers. which raises the whole question of whether there was pressure to take him off suicide watch by his own attorneys. >> you know, it is actually not an uncommon scenario. being on suicide watch can be very burdensome and sometimes defendants don't want to be on suicide watch. i've had defense attorneys request someone being removed from suicide watch and so that is a possibility. one interesting fact is the attorney-client privilege survives the death of a defendant so any privileged communications would still be protected. there is a crime fraud

exception. so if there is anything criminal discussed that is something that could be pierced and provided to the prosecutors. >> barbara, briefly, what about coconspirators? they can still be prosecuted obviously. can victims also still get at the estate? >> they can. a few things that can happen. one is they can investigate coconspirators and i think the search on the island yesterday was an effort by the fbi to out race friends and family members who might want to get there and hide or take away evidence. so securing that premises was important for going after coconspirators. that is a possibility. getting restitution from the coconspirators is also a possibility. the u.s. attorney's office can forfeit civilly the house and all of the money of jeffrey epstein and of course there's also civil lawsuits that remain available. >> barbara mcquade, thank you very much. pete williams, as always. and that does it for us.

thanks very much for being with us. that does it for "andrea mitchell reports" and here is ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. >> thank you. have a great afternoon. hello everyone. it is tuesday, august 13th. we are following a lot of breaking news. moments ago, chaos breaking out at hong kong's international airport. riot police armed with pepper spray clashing with protesters after thousands of demonstrators filled the departure area of the main terminal. the demonstrations shutting down operations at the airport now for two straight days disrupting flights and suspending check-ins. >> joining us from hong kong's airport is our nbc news correspondent and the former deputy assistant secretary of defense. janis, tell us what you're seeing on the ground right now and walk us through the last few hours of escalation. >> reporter: well, this looks relatively calm compared to the scene just a couple hours ago and a