. >> sure, sure, congressman filemon vela from the state of texas. thank you so much, sir. >>> let me pivot we just got breaking news, senator mark kirk, a republican from illinois just sent a tweet saying he cannot support donald trump as the nominee of his party based upon his military experience. he suggests trump does not have the temperament for some context kirk is in the middle of a tough re-election race and has said in the past he would support trump if he were the nominee. and now says he cannot. our special coverage continues on this super tuesday. you both have a perfect driving record. >>perfect. no tickets. no accidents... >>that is until one of you clips a food truck, ruining your perfect record. >>yup... now, you would think your insurance company would cut you some slack, right?

joining me now the man who wrote the letter, congressman fi filemon vila of texas.gressman. >> yeah, like i said, i usually am much calmer and prefer to be much more diplomatic, but in this case i felt like i really had to speak in a way that mr. trump understood. and that's why i used that language. >> what was your message? >> well, you know, the fact of the matter is that over the course of the past several months we have witnessed these outrageous statements coming from donald trump. and back in my home district i run into constituents who express their concerns and frustrations with what he says but last week when he made those comments about judge curiel in california, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. i just felt like it was important to speak out those comments were racist. judge curiel is a distinguished jurist, first generation american born in indiana, served as united states prosecutor, was appointed to the state bench by governor schwarzenegger and has served this country well as a federal judge. to make those comments about judge curiel is

. >> reporter: congressman, filemon vela, we appreciate it. >> it's heartbreaking when you think of those babies, just infants and toddlers who in many cases they need constant attention and here they are in this facility, casa presidente run by southwest keys and they run a second facility in combes and tender-age shelters are defined under the age of 10 years old. it is absolutely heartbreaking. >> nick, you just heard him say an 8-month-old and another baby that's under 1. these are children that could very well have been breast-feeding from their mother and that being much of their sustenance, and if their mother is not there then they can no longer be fed and nourished in that way. i am so glad you're there. i am so glad you're reporting this out for us, nick, thank you very, very much. let's discuss this with cnn political commentator steve cortez and doug hyde. good to have you both here. steve cortez, you just heard that. are you comfortable with that situation for the 8-month-old and that 1-year-old? >> gosh, no. of course, i'm not comfortable. as a father, an american and human

there are also babies in there, infants and it was a short time ago that i spoke with congressman filemon vela and he described to me what he saw after getting a tour on monday. you walk into a room and there are two children, one the age of 8 months. another the age of almost 1 who is without their parent, and you begin to think and realize that this -- these children that are toddlers are being held hostage by the president of the united states. it's abhorrent, and the fact that in the united states of america, in 2018, that we're allowing this to happen is just really shameful and what we need is for the president to rescind zero-tolerance right now. >> inside the demographics include 80 children. 40 of them that have been recently separated from their families as a result of the zero-tolerance policy according to congressman vela. he saw two infants, two of them with their teenage mothers and the other two that were tended to by staff. it was also children by the age of 4 and 5 years old. 7 to 8 of those children, he described it as just absolutely heartbreaking. kate? >> nick, thank

. >> reporter: when democrat filemon vela announced his resignation in march, republicans thrust moredollars in ads for flores in english and spanish. >> i've always said south texas is republican, they just don't know it. >> reporter: national democrats declined to spend heavily in the race. partly because flores will have to run again in november, when the newly drawn 34th district will be more friendly to democrats. >> while i think it's going to be more difficult for her to win re-election in a district that's more democratic, this sends a larger message that republicans do have an opportunity to gain ground with hispanic voters. that has the potential to give them opportunities in other districts that aren't as democratic. >> reporter: and erin, i've been speaking to republican strategists about this dynamic going back to 2020. they are bullish on this. they're practically salivating at their opportunity with latino visits. if you go back to 2008, republicans struggled demographically. they have an aging voting base and this is their best opportunity to win, especially going into