jeff sessions and homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen heading to the hill, hoping to whip gop votes. the sudden scramble, coming as mounting pressure reaches a boiling point. nielsen protesters during dinner at a mention an restaura -- at a mexican restaurant. but the real test, will congress find common ground when it's time to vote and will the president sign off on it? so far, nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents but it hasn't been worked out how they will be reunited. the house is expected to take up two immigration bills this week. raj? >> jill, thank you. >>> the power of social media, a facebook fund-raiser has taken off, and it continues to rise. right now people have donated $14 million. this makes it the biggest facebook campaign ever. a silicon valley couple who worked at facebook launched it just a few days ago. their initial goal was $1,500. the money will help provide legal services for undocumented

homeland security sec or tear kirsten nielsen forced out of a restaurant as well, and a mob gathered at her private home. trump adviser steven miller at a restaurant, his meal interrupted by shouts of fascist. and then there's maxine waters putting the icing on the leftist cake. trump's people, she told msnbc, they're not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they're not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they're not going to be able to shop at a department store. the people are going to turn on them. this is a new level of harassment. it is hatred raining down on conservatives when they appear in public. to say it's gone too far is a wild understatement. it shouldn't be happening at all. democracies settle political disputes with debate and votes. the angry confrontation of public officials brings us very close to civil strife. that's not good. it's the left that's doing this. petulantve hillary's loss, they've launched a hunt -- a hate trump campaign.

the administration had been mounting centered around trump and his homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen demonstrators interrupted her dinner at a washington restaurant on tuesday night in protest of the child separations if you're really really really weak the country is going to be overruled with millions of people trumps executive order is only a temporary solution to the broader problem of immigration reform that stymied lawmakers for decades meeting at the white house republicans argued for measures to stop migrants entering the united states then disappearing without a hearing before an immigration judge but as president you're going to rule by if you. take. all requires the children to be separated if you let the adults in the country they never show. seems to me that we want to keep the family together and have the perisher over there. but democrats dispute claim that he was simply enforcing the law when it comes to separating children from their parents democrats argue it was a choice b. uses what amounts to government sponsored child abuse as political leverage a bargaining chi

why is kirsten nielsen getting flown in from new orleans? >> it seems like secretary nielsen is about to be the public face of this contentious policy. this morning in new orleans she acknowledged it was something the white house was doing. >> do they think we're idiots? i'm asking. how d they go out and own all sides of the issue, say, this policy doesn't exist, oh, but we are doing this policy that we're going to blame the democrats for it, oh, it's working. do they think we're dumb? >> whether they think we're dumb or idiots, they want to muddy the waters. this is what they do. the biggest offender is president donald trump, who, again, we see him pushing the idea it's the democrats, the democrats. he's playing solely to his base. he's playing to those watching on fox news. he's playing to those who are inclined to believe him despite what the actual facts are. and this is a bridge too far for a lot of even moderate republicans. >> right now they're coming out and saying this needs to end, but what are they doing about it? >> that's the qu

the administration had been mounting centered around trump and his homeland security secretary kirsten nielsendemonstrators interrupted her dinner at a washington restaurant on tuesday night in protest of the child separations if you're really really but. the country is going to be overrun with millions of people trumps executive order is only a temporary solution to the broader problem of immigration reform that stymied lawmakers for decades meeting at the white house republicans argued for measures to stop migrants entering the united states and then disappearing without a hearing before an immigration judge as president you're going to rule by if you. take. the children to be separated if you let the adults in the country they never show up seems to me that we want to keep the family together and show up for their core democrats dispute trops claim that he was simply enforcing the law when it comes to separating children from their parents democrats argue it was a choice be uses what amounts to government sponsored child abuse as political leverage a bargaining chip in his effort to force t

the administration had been mounting centered around trump and his homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen demonstrators interrupted her dinner at a washington restaurant on tuesday night in protest of the child separations if you're really really but. the country is going to be overruled with many people trumps executive order is only a temporary solution to the broader problem of immigration reform that stymied lawmakers for decades meeting at the white house republicans argued for measures to stop migrants entering the united states then disappearing without a hearing before an immigration judge as president you're going to rule by if you. take. the children to be separate if you live in the country they never show. seems to me that we want to keep the family together. but democrats dispute trops claim that he was simply enforcing the law when it comes to separating children from their parents democrats argue it was a choice b. uses what amounts to government sponsored child abuse as political leverage a bargaining chip in his effort to force through an extremist immigration agenda we c

homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen forced out of a mexican restaurant last night after an angrylist mob confronted her. listen. >> shame on nielsen, shame on trump. shame on nielsen, shame on trump. shame on nielsen, shame on track. gerri: can even go to dinner. senior policies at the independent women's forum. state representative and republican u.s. senate candidate. this is a big issue for the trump administration entering iraq to of criticism for its family separation policy as you just heard. in a meeting with republicans last night lasting about an hour, he sidesteps the issue. two bills under consideration. when a compromise bill, when i heard were a pill. one will get traction. >> both bills will be difficult. the more hardline bill is especially hard to get passed through congress. a lot of republicans would rather just deal with the migrant family situation now and deal with immigration later. however, whatever approach they take the immigration reform needs to be down within families need to figure out how to ensure these families are not left to the wind of any admin

it is happening, but kirsten nielsen says they are enforcing the laws on the books and calling on congress to fix this. what do we need to know about what is happening down at that border that you witnessed on your duty every day? >> we are seeing this marked increase since the spring, since spring started. 50,000 people every month for the last three months. it's a huge increase in families and children coming unaccompanied. we have to find a way to make this border safer. we are being distracted by this humanitarian mission. we could refer all people across the border illegally, and we started to do that. that's what we are seeing being played out now. >> sandra: kirstjen nielsen makes her case. we are not sticking out families. if you are seeking asylum, go to the point of entry. she stuck by that message and showed up at the white house to address the press. she said that nick occurs if the adult is a danger to the child or if the parent is wanted for prosecution. are those the only reasons for which a child is separated with an adult or parent with them? >> that's correct. those are t

. >> kirsten nielsen enacted this policy meaning anybody crossing the border illegally, seeking asylumentry illegally, gets prosecuted and as that happens they all get separated from their children. what was your response when you heard that? >> well, first, the actual policy and the messaging of the policy has been a moving target but what appears to have been the case up until yesterday was that the department of justice had adopted a zero tolerance policy where migrants would be prosecuted criminally and federal district court and once the migrant is taken into department of justice custody if the migrant had a child with him or her that child would have to be separated because you can't bring a child into pre-trial detention and so it was an obvious conscious policy choice to make knowing full well that the child would be separated if you choose to prosecute the parent. >> you never did that as a policy? obama administration. there's been reports of discussed it, talked about it. >> that's correct. >> to deter people from coming across the border illegally. president obama deported

he lose the argument when you use the language he used to describe kirsten nielsen and when he talks about a child being thrown in a cage with pedophiles you completely lose the argument. you show your hand that you aren't a logical or honest person. >> if ever in general and the argument take a few steps back and think about the seriousness. who is to know this 30 and is not going to make the sentiment go when something you pointed out they go low when we go high. kennedy: it's hard to go lower. when you're qualifying somebody insults that he is using showing you just how debasing they are. >> it was a very gross thing that he said. he deleted it and he apologized. i can imagine the trump family is very upset as they should be. i think when you recognize you on too far and you want to make that clear you say the type of things that he did whether he meant it or not. if you are cory lewandowski and you do something horrendous and you don't apologize for attempt to apologize at all that is a worse fall. kennedy: i was watching that last night and he gave the win on that and obviously

earlier this morning attorney general jeff sessions and department of homeland security security kirsten nielsen spoke to the national association sheriff in new orleans and she repeated the white house position there was no change in policy that caused children to be separated from families and then she said this -- >> it is important to note these minors are very well taken care of. don't believe the press. they are very well taken care of. >> to be clear, there is no evidence the children are being mistreated after they're separated from parents and the press and americans are not alleging that. it is the sull separation itself. children away from parents that people are upset about. on sunday she denied the separation exists. we don't have a policy separating families at the border and then added, period. so nielsen said the policy doesn't exist and president trump said it exists but it is law and his attorney general said it is a policy and biblically based and steven miller said not only did they is a -- adopt it intentionally to get democrats to agree to gain money to build the wall. laur

kirsten nielsen current homeland security secretary clashed privately, sometimes inviting furious lectures from the president which have pushed her to the brink of resignation. how f is the president this policy? >> the president clearly sees this now as a political issue, just taking the statements that he made on friday in that impromptu preserence that he had right outside the white house, he tried to frame this in political terms blaming the democrats and now that is the president trying to have it both wayshere, and i think that's really important to point out. the president has repeatedly kind of touted his administration's policies as it pertains to immigration. jeff sessions put out this order at the same time when you see, after you see those images of those children at the border, you hear from both democrats and republicans concerned about this going on, the president then shifts gears to blame democrats. so he'srying to have it both ways here, and i think it will be very difficult for the public to blame democrats for this, even though their votes are needed because of what we

president trump is meeting with his cabinet as homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen is working on how to reunite kids separated at the border. but details are scant. >>> and they're trying to get enough members behind at least one immigration bill up a vote today. is the president, though, undermining their efforts? all of this while democratic leaders are trying to take advantage of the president's 180. >> i hope this represents a turning point with the president. i hope it means this president will stop blaming others for problems he creates and start fixing them himself. >> the president is either not knowing, not caring, delusional and in denial about his own policies being outside the circle of civilized human behavior. >>> and you're looking live at -- excuse me, if moments ago, protests on capitol hill. they're crowding the rotunda and their cause is, of course, separation of families. we're going to monitor what's going on there. but as we speak, republicans are voting on procedural rules for a pair of gop immigration bills, bills that the house will vote on this aftern

honestly, kirsten nielsen needs to be the only one that's talking right now because she's right, congressx this. ted cruz has put forth a legislative solution that i think is really solid, unlike the democrats who basically just want every illegal immigrant to be able to come in no questions asked, no consequences. and that's just not going to happen in this administration. elizabeth: well, the president -- the white house, a couple months ago, let's just set out the lay of the land, said we will start criminally prosecuting. at that point that's when the family members were separated, because you can't hold children in federal criminal detention centers. the talk being -- >> right. elizabeth: -- revert back to administrative detention centers, you know, to fix that problem, to keep the families together. that's the solution there. but to your point, allie, there's a broader problem here, and that is border or security, to your point. republicans and democrats, democrats, both sides have for decades been dragging their feet on common sense solutions to the immigration policies, problems a

we're learning that homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen will join sarah sanders at today's whiteress briefing set to begin soon. we were told it was at 1:15 and then 3:30 and then at 4:00 and it is 4:36 and it hasn't happened yet. they are having difficulty coming up with answers for the questions about the president's plan, this new policy that is resulting in families being ripped apart at the border. my panel is here with me. first of all, since kirsten nielson will be joining the country in a few minutes, i want to start with a couple of things she's said. first of all, there was yesterday -- she was tweeting a bunch of things about the new policy and one of the things she wrote was, quote, we do not have the luxury of pretending that all -- we do not have a policy of separating families at the border, period. that is sect of homeland security. we do not have a policy of separating families at the border. but then also we have what she said today had when speaking with law enforcement officials in new orleans, let's roll that sound. >> we do not have the luxury of pretending

kirsten nielsen was brought to capitol hill making here appeal. steve scalise came up here. when they pass immigration legislation in the past, six, seven, 12 years, it's been bipartisan. they can only lose 20 votes on the republican side of the aisle. look at the senate bill that passed a couple years ago. didn't go anywhere n the house. they got 68 yays and that's because it was bipartisan. when you try to do it on one side, it won't work. >> dana: what does the loss of joe crowley mean for the loss of future democratic party leaders? >> it means the lack of clarity. there was a long line of people that thought joe crowley might be the heir apparent for nancy pelosi. she might be pushed aside if that didn't get the majority. she might be pushed aside if they did get the majority. considehe listf democrats that were thought to be her successor over the years that aren't here anymore. people not named steny hoyer. now rahm emanuel. steve israel, congressman from long island. he retired. now joe crowley. at the end of the day, he lost his district. he lost his primary. if you

at this hour we are expecting homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen to meet with republican lawmakers. attorney general jeff sessions was there earlier. the moves by the trump administration today come after days of national and international outrage. and they fly in the face of what the administration has been claiming all along. >> congress and the courts created this problem, and congress alone can fix it. >> we need ten votes. we can't get them from the democrats. wait, wait. you can't do it through an executive order. >> it turns out the president can fix it after all. joining me with the latest is nbc muse white house correspondent kristen welker and national security and justice reporter julia ainsley. kristen let's start with you. we were expected the president to have already signed this executive order. it seems as though that hasn't happened yet. i'm interested to know the latest there. also what does your reporting say about what the tipping point was for this president? >> in terms of what is happening here at the white house, moments ago the group of reporters referred t

department of health and human services homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen in fact speaking saying look at the issue of child separations maybe temporarily resolved but the issue of children being sent across the border often without their parents has been going on for years some ten thousand in the last two years and so the government is pointing towards congress saying look you need to do your job you need to come up with a comprehensive plan and that's where the spotlight is now and i guess that's the real stumbling block because of course they've been trying to pass some kind of legislation over four years there is an upcoming political battle at the immigration debate and vote tonight any sign that the two sides are coming going to meet halfway or come to some kind of resolution. doesn't seem to be any optimism on any side that either of these immigration bills that are going to be looked at the house of representatives fiercely debated is going to get the kind of traction needed to become law because even if one does pass the house of representatives it's unlikely to p

. >> reporter: in an attempt to quel the controversy, kirsten nielsen said, h we don'te a policy of separating families at the border, period. but 2,000 families have been separated after a zero tolerance policy named in may. >> i hate the children being taken away. the democrats haveha toe their law. that's their law.te >> rep a quick fact check here. there's nothing in the law that requires the administration to roparate young children their parents. and lindsey graham has argued, the president could s it all with one phone call. house speaker paul rya will introduce two bills this week that could deal with the issue. both are facing steep hurdles. mr. trump will discus immigration funding today. >> kristen welker at the white u.house. thank >>> let's focus more on what's happening inside the facilities whhee the children and t parents can becob soboroff visi. what did you see? g >> reported morning. this is a processing station in mckallen, texas. it's the t epicenter of policy of separating children from their parents. because of the vole of separations that are happening inside. and yeste

. > ( james )(ááá2 shotááá) that was secretary of homeland security kirsten nielsen ...ding the white house's policy of seperating children from their parents at the border. ( darya ) this morning bay area faith leaders will gather to protest that policy. kron4's lydia pantazas is live in redwood city with the details. this morning clergy, faith leaders, and community leaders from across san mateo county will gather at the san mateo county board of supervisors meeting to urgently seek funding for deportation defense. the faith community will deliver 3,000 postcards in support of deportation defense that it has collected over the past two weeks from constituents from across san mateo county. while neighboring counties such as san francisco county, alameda county, and santa clara county fund deportation defense, san mateo county does not. <(child crying)child: "i don't want them to stop my father. i don't want them to deport him." <(child crying)child: "i don't want them to stop my father. i don't want them to deport him." child: "daddy!"child: "daddy! daddy!"child: "mommy

listen here to attorney general jeff sessions and the secretary of homeland security kirsten niels nielsen. >> we asked congress to change the law to allow for the expeditious return of unaccompanied alien children regardless of their country of origin. we're also asking congress to allow us to keep families together while they are detained. >> president trump has said this lawlessness cannot continue. we do not to separate parents from their children. you can be sure of that. if we build a wall, we pass some legislation, we close some loopholes, we won't face these terrible choices. >> here with me to share their reporting and their insights, michael scherer with the "new yorkimes," sun wu kim with the "washington post," andcnn paul copeland. let'srt with an important fact check here. it is not congress that has to change the law. changing the law across the board on immigration is necessary and certainly would be helpful, but this is an administration policy. at the end of the day, at the beginning of the day, and everywhere in between, they made this decision. it just boggles the mind t

. >> reporter: homeland security secretary kirsten fljen nielsen insists the children are being caredhy it is we only see pictures of boys in the pictures released but not girls. >> why is the government only releasing images of boys held, where are the girls? where are the young toddlers? where are the young toddlers? >> i don't know. i'm not familiar with those particular images. >>> this was an idea floated by kelly. ted cruz introducing emergency legislation that would aim to keep immigrant families together after crossing the border. but if trump's policy is in place, it's unclear how much of an impact, if any, cruz's legislation would be. reporting live from washington, stephanie ramos, abc 7 news. >> thank you, stephanie. you can find more details about the family separation controversy on our website, abc7news.com. >>> more now on breaking news we've been following throughout the morning. union city police investigating a shooting involving several juveniles as well as police officers. officers. there are multiple crime scenes we've been watching. matt keller has more. matt. >

. >> homeland security secretary kristin nelson -- kirsten tjen nielsen took questions from white house. >> secretary nielsen, if you notd, talking about dhhs upholding the laws, you are talking about changing them. many are saying you are using children as a leverage to try to us get into take legislative action. ned: it is -- sec. nielsen: is clearly within their power to make the laws and change the laws. they should do so. yes. >> have you seen the photos of children in cages? at a heard clips of these children wailing? i have not seen anything that came out today, but i have been to detention centers, and i direct you to the standards, the care provided not just by the department of homeland security but by the health and human services when i get to dhhs. >> is that the image you want out -- sec. nielsen: the image is one of this country is an image that's appears our borders and upholds our ideals. congress needs to fix it. >> i want to give you a chance to respond to laura bush's pop that. -- op-ed. the current first lady, melania trump, has says "we should be a nation of laws,

homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen and policy advisers even miller were privately heckled the restaurant. this huckabee and mr. miller should be allowed to eat dinner in peace. it comes a day after maxine waters call that her supporters to continue confronting white house officials and public. >> anybody from that cabinet and the restaurant, at a gasoline station. dagen: president obama advisor david axelrod pleaded about this and appalled by folks who applauded the expulsion. real donald trump. #sad. i want your take on this first. "the wall street journal" has an editorial today talking about people on the left. their relentless content might end up reelecting him. >> the interesting story about the lady who owns this restaurant, the red hand and the article had all gpt q. folks that work on her restaurant and she feels the trump administration are limiting and she doesn't want their huckabee sanders having dinner at a restaurant. is that my particular opinion? e. wherever you like. and you shouldn't be discriminated. but there is a rift in this country between the left and

homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen responded i here's that. families at the border. period. look who's here. sean spicer, former white house press secretary, joining us now. sean, i don't want to get into the nitty-gritty of what's policy, what's law. what i'm going to say is the democrats are winning on the issue of separating families. will you take me on? >> well, i think you're right from an image standpoint. you look at these photos of children being held and separated from their parents, i think there's no question that nobody should find joy in that. as a parent. difficult so i think that from an imagery standpoint, a very simple message proposition standpoint, this is one that i think the democrats probably win in the short term. that being said, i think that you've got to be really careful in this game how those things play out over time. the president's had a record of fighting for issues that the american people support, and i think they all believe in a strong immigration system and tough borders. the president's been very clear an

. >> kirsten nielsen defended the administration of the current policies in a series of tweets readiness. we do not have a policy of separating families of the bord. for those seeki asylum in the ports of entry, we have continued the policy from previous administrations and will only separate if the child is in danger. there's no custodial relationship between, quote, family members or if the adults have broken the law. in the meantime, president trump to meet with key senators stay in house republicans tomorrow on capitol hill to discuss a compromise immigration bill. your reaction to what we are seeing. you heard from kellyanne conway there is real uneasiness as we said with this policy suffered in the children. >> terrific things at the border, the human trafficking is really disgusting, but don't pretend that's because of donald trump berg border patrol trying to enforce the law. that's because there's a lot of human trafficking going on at the border. if you want to claim asylum, do so in their country of origin. if you're coming to the united states, go to a port of entry. if they

and homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen first cabinet member to hold a meeting at the ambassadorhe met with her israeli counterpart calling the opportunity a distinct honor. brian? brian: thanks a lot, jillian from. fire and fury to this historic summit to president trump weighing in on important rhetoric that finally brought kim jong un, he believes, t the table. >> other administrations i don't want to get specific on that they had a policy of silence. if they said something really bad, horrible, threatening. just don't answer. the rhetoric, i haighted to do it, sometimes i felt foolish doing it, but we had no choice. brian: what happens next? we are back with esteemed panel hagar chemly. morgan o ortagus and david tafuri working the state department under president obama. david, for you, there is four principles that they have agreed on, working towards denuclearization. this is just a starting point. but you are skeptical still in what respect? >> well, i'm not skeptical in the sense of what happened today. what happened today was historic. but, we still don't know if actuall

kirsten powers and the president will pay. >> kirstjen nielsen. >> that's right, i'm sorry. >> how muchger can the white house hold out and continue this policy? >> this is a policy driven from the top. the very top. i mean, you've got the president clearly, it's out there on the record. he feels like he can blame other people, which is his m.o. he always blames other people. i have no idea how long they can go on. but once you get more pictures and once you get more audio, i mean, it's -- you know, it's a crisis for them to tell you the truth, and they're going to have to figure out a way out of it. >> and the images of the kids, heartbreaking, as they're ripped apart from their moms and dads. >>> also new tonight, a very different story we're following. authorities fear isis may have assigned one of its top bomb makers to a deadly new mission, arming unmanned drones with miniaturized bombs, possibly with an eye towards civilian targets. tell our viewers what you're learning. >> we've been speaking to a western intelligence operative who worked under cover posing as a terrorist. he onc

members bearing the brunt over this, it's homeland security chief kirsten nielson there and having dinner and jeff sessions. it's nielsen that is the face of one of the trump administration's most controversial policies. the reason for this, the family separation. the most recent reason for the outcry, the tender age shelters. they've been set up to house babies and toddlers separated from their parents. can you explain what's going on inside these tender age facilities? >> yes, i can. from what reporting shows, there's three right now and looking at opening a fourth in houston. a shelter that was previously used for people who displaced from hurricane harvey. people that have been there, lawyers, doctors, they described it as these really desolate play grounds where children are plying and really upset and frustrated with this experience and wondering where their families are. a lot of people are emotional about this. this is something in addition to the images of children being ripped from their parents at the border, something garnering a lot of attention from media, from critics, of this separation policy. >> the sa

nielsen while she was dining at a mexican restaurants tuesday. now comes words one of the activists is an employee for the department of justice. expwhrieng now, diamond and silk. i think kirstens doing the right thing in the midst much this border situation by dining at a mexican restaurants. >> yes, she is, and she also explained the process people should go by. but what i find appalling is hecklers disturbing her when she eats. where is the women's rights movement to protect her. she has a right to eat without anyone disturbing her. somebody should be sued for this. if these hecklers want to heckle somebody, how about heckling the democrats who won't come to the table to solve this problem. jesse: i think kirsten should have taken her margarita and tossed it in the face much that justice department employee. i can't believe she still has a job as of today. these people are allowed to run wild. >> they better be glad it wasn't diamond and silk. jesse: there would have been tacos flying all over the place. there was a protest at a trump rally when a man got a little rowdy. and here is what the president had to say. president trump: we have a single protester. googood-bye, dar

kirsten gillibran gillibrand. >> i understand where the impulse is coming from and they're not saying abolish i.c.e. and doing in. they're saying abolish i.c.e. and replace t ce it with a new agency. secretary nielsen needs to resign. we need a new i.c.e. director put in who is not cruel and execute inhumane orders and we need to change i.c.e.'s mission so don't weaponize themselves to attack communities and terrorize communities. if none of that happens, i would support abolishing i.c.e. and replacing it with a new agency consistent with america's principles. >> i want to shift gears and talk about what we saw in your role sitting on the judiciary committee. this hearing on thursday, here's what it was about. take a look. >> they talk about the mueller investigation. it's really the rosenstein investigation. you appointed mueller, you're supervising mueller. >> there is an old saying justice delayed is justice denied. i think all of us are being denied. whatever you got, finish it the hell up. this country is being torn apart. >> mr. rosenstein, why are you keeping information from congress? >> congressman, i am not keeping any information from congress. >> i want to know why you won't give us wha