millions and millio of peoplepouring through our country. > joining me now is republican senator james langfordoklahoma. he's been taking the lead on finding the short-term congressional fix to the family separation issue. setor langford, welcome back to "meet the press" sir. >> thank you. good to be back with you. >> let me start with the basic question. have we misnamed this? is ts a refugee crisis than an immigration crisis considering this ia specific region of the world where this is emanating from? >> this has been a long-term issue. i'm not sure i'd call it a refugee crisis, about you it's been destabilizing for a long time. there was $650 million into elnd salvador, as and they'll provide some stabilizing force in their government and toide able to prthem a reason to be able to stay. i've been in the region multiple times, to be able to oversee how that money is being spent, but this is a long-term issue. you bac to 2013 there were families coming as a family unit and now we're up to 89,000 families a yearom that areg at the united states as a family unit. >> let's go to someic spec her

i'll speak with senator james langford of the intelligence committee and our correspondents are standing by with full coverage. our top story, the president's personal lawyer michael cohen is breaking with his legal team as he faces a federal investigation in new york. our national correspondent is joining us from new york with theest. brin, what is the latest? >> reporter: wolf, what we know is that this is a legal team that has been by the side of michael cohen ever since early april after the raid by the fbi of his home and his hotel room and his office. and we know they've also been by his side through the legal proceed gz and several court proceedings where they fought to conceal some of the documents taken during th raid claiming attorneyt privilege so this is significant that he'll be likely be set to split with the attorneys, some based here in new york and some in d.c. now for the reasons -- those are not one 100% clear but there is speculation and there is a lot of things out there right now that could possibly be the reasons. for one, we're hearing from a source that michael c

oklahoma senator james langford posted video where he tells a constituent he has a message for the white house. >> keep families together as much as we can possibly keep families together. >> reporter: for republicans candidates, immigration is an issue that gets conservative voters to turn out. >> build that wall! >> build that wall! >> build that damn wall! >> reporter: congressman dan donovan has president trump's enforcement in month's staten island, new york, primary. today he also had his lawyer's campaign help. >> you know i represent president trump. >> reporter: issues like immigration could determine control of congress. the president's allies, like rudy giuliani, plainly argue the president's fate is on the line. >> let's stop the possibility of a ridiculous impeachment and let's make sure that i don't have to see nancy pelosi on television anymore! thank you! >> reporter: president trump plans to visit house republicans tuesday to talk about strategy for two immigration bills. thmore conservative hard-line approach is not likely to pass. leaving open the door for a moderate c

. >> dana: joining us now is republican senator james langford of oklahoma. thanks for joining us. know this is going to be the topic later today on the house side as the president will make his way to meet up with house republicans. but, whatever the house decides to do, also needs to be able to pass the senate. and what do you think the prospects are for that, sir? >> i think this is a good first step to be able to walk through the process to be able to figure out how to solve. this this is one of several issues the administration has raised for a long time and quite frankly in february this was one of the things that the senate voted on. we got bipartisan support but we didn't get 60 votes on it and a proposal that the president came up with that is part after flores agreement to be able to solve this. we voted on this. folks have said this is new. this is not new. we voted on this in the senate but it didn't get 60 votes. we need to be able to bring it back up and solve it now. this is a bad trap the administration is. in either have the choice of fulfilling the law and actuall

. >> at the same time on nbc sunday show, james langford of oklahoma said this -- >> we know where every single child is. >> do you believe that the trump -- forget the trump administration, do you think that the u.s. government is capable of knowing right now where every single child is and what parent they match up with? i don't. just forget trump for a second. >> one of the truly irresponsible things for this and this is where you do tay a consequence in the real world and people suffer, and the department of homeland security is one department and the department of health and human services is anothe department and a handoff of the children -- to hhs and then the parents in dhs custody and they didn't know -- and how do the people coordinate. >> so add another -- >> and it is a disgrace. it is boring to talk about governance and it does matter and it is a disgraceful ins dent in pursuit of a policy trump and the chief of staff john kelly and sessions had sort of -- trumpeted as a great innovation and i agree it is a disgraceful moment and he should be held can accountable. and congre

oklahoma senator james langford posted video where he tells a constituent, he has a message for the white house. >> keep families together as much as we can possibly keep families together. >> for republican candidates, immigration is an issue that gets conservative voters to turn out. >> build that wall. build that damn wall. >> dan donovan has president trump's endorsement in this month's stateland newk ary. he also had his lawyers campaign help. >> you know i represent president trump. >> issues like immigration could determine control of congress. the president's allies like giuliani plainly argue the president's fate is on the line. >> let's stop the responsibility of a ridiculous impeachment and make sure i don't have to see nancy pelosi on television anymore. thank you. >> president trump plans to visit house republicans on tuesday to talk strategy about two immigration bills. the more conservative hard line bill is not likely to pass. leaving the door open to a compromise that would address family separations, would grant legal status to young immigrants known as dreamers and beef

. >> neil: let's get more from james langford, a member of the intel committee and more. what do you think of that? in the end this comes down to recognizing we can't trust this guy and the people around him and ultimately the only way to assure cooperation down the road is he not be there. >> he has but the brutal dictator and the people around him have answered yes to every statement he's made. if they don't, he has them executed. he can't be afraid to take military leaders and kill them with an anti aircraft gun for public execution. so he's been a ruthless dictators despite the pictures of him smiling and walking through the streets. we should be aware of that. if he has any compassion for the people and the millions that live in squalor and poverty in north korea, he will set aside his nuclear weapons so they can have electricity and food and the opportunities that the rest hoff the world around them has. >> neil: do you think he cares though? >> we're about to find out. >> you're right. >> that's the big issue. if he says i'll set aside these nuclear weapons and uni

. >> james langford says the children are being trapped. >> we know where every single children -- child is. >> they show 48% of all people believe it is a high priority to reunify families. >> translator: >>> -->>> the department of justice and human services, homeland security and defense all play a role.>> berkeley's mayor said to give his annual state of the city address today. mayor jesse is expected to focus on homelessness and housing in the city. berkeley officials say he plans to lay out the process since his election in 2016. it will begin at 6:30 pm at berkeley state college. >>> getting around san francisco is going to be a little harder for some muni riders. the twin peaks shuttle is shutting down for two months. the forest hill and west portal station will be closed during the shutdown. jessica is live in san francisco to explain. >> reporter: we are across the street from the balboa park station and this is where folks will have to transfer to a bus or to bart because of that twin peaks closure. that will be going on for the next two months and twin peaks tunnel, he connec

. >> we heard from plenty of republicans over the weekend and also senator james langford saying thee running this are seasoned government officials. they know where every single child is located. do you think there is an erosion of trust with republicans and democrats how this is handled and if they know where every kid is? >> the cynical play here is the would you say has done calculations. -- play here is the white house has done their calculations and they factored doing nothing is better. the white house doesn't have their wall. they need to look like they are getting tough. democrats know kids behind chain-linked fences is a heart wrenching image and it plays well on campaign ads come november. the incentive is for washington, d.c. to do what they do best. nothing. >> when we could not be more divided, sarah sanders, press secretary, says she was kicked out of a virginia restaurant because she works for the trump administration. it is called the red hen in lexington. let's get to reaction. in particular from the left. here is a surprising tweet from david axelrod. amazing and a

here's what senator james langford said today about this plan. >> let me clarify this, we know where every single child is, this is an issue that's gone out there, somewhat in some of the other media that's not been responsible for this with the atu assumption that that administration has lost track of them. >> is that true that the administration knows where every single child is? >> obviously the senator is saying that, but these parents, the men that i met with that were separated with their children, they didn't know where their children were. the government should have some level of records that show which child is where, which parent is where. but the parents didn't know. some of these children bring little notes attached with a safety pin with pieces of paper with their names and phone numbers. but there's no guarantee that everybody knows where their children are or have they spoken to them. i think that's false, the government may know but they're not sharing that information. >> we do know that some of these children have tracking bracelets that are being housed in these fa

my guest this morning republican senator james langford of oklahoma and independent senator angus kingmaine who caucuses with the democrats. also, refugee crisis. why are so many people from central america coming to the united states? what are they fleeing? richard engel of nbc news has a report from his trip to el salvador. >> and political culture wars. white house press secretary sarah sanders is asked to leave a restaurant because she works for president trump. her father, mike huckabee tweets this picture with the caption, nancy pelosi introduces her campaign committee. is all of this the new normal? joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news capital k and erick erick son editor of the resurntent. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press". >> the longest-running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. for perhaps the first time in his presidency donald trump lost an issue that was defined by television. not the facts that parents and children were separated at the border, that was the administration's policy, what matter

here's oklahoma senator james langford addressing the issue in a call to a constituent. >> what i'm makinga request to the white house on is keep families together as much as we can possibly keep family together for as long as we can possibly keep them together. >> house speaker paul ryan said today that he wanted the issue addressed through legislation. >> we don't want kids to be separated from their parents. i there i just made that really clear. >> nbc's reporting that texas senator john cornyn is planning on introducing a bill that will require that families be kept together while waiting for court proceedings. today jeff sessions said that the bible provides a justification for his policy. let's watch. >> obey the laws of the government because god is ordained the government for his purposes. our policies that can result in short-term separation of families is not unusual or unjustified. >> here's how white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders responded. >> it is very biblical to enforce the law. that is actually repeated a number of times throughout the bible. but the separa

we'll talk to senator james langford about what congress can do. >>> plus, the michigan pediatriciana direct link between flint's water and dangerous lead in local children. >>> first, today's "eye opener" at 8:00. >> a new report the trump administration is sending babies and young children to so-called tender age shelters. >> we did ask a worker whether the children here have been separated from their parents and the man told us he couldn't confirm. >> growing concern among republicans that the decision to continue separating families could cost republican seats in the midterm election. >> he'll fight to keep his job here. they've accused him of tainting two of the biggest political investigations in u.s. history. >>> many here in texas,include ing those still recovering from hurricane harvey have been affected by this heavy rain. >>> he was visiting vietnam now their family has not been able to speak with him since he was arrested ten days ago. >>> soon your iphone will be able to tell 911 exactly where you are. >> companies like uber use technology like this to find you on a stre

oklahoma republican senator james langford said the children are being tracked by competent government officials. >> they know where every child is, to be able to connect them to the parent or the relative that came. >> reporter: the executive order trump signed last week was intended to temporarily end family separation which increased dramatically after the administration implemented its zero tolerance policy. a new cbs news poll shows nearly two-thirds of americans disapprove of family separation at the border. more than 60% saiduestion of how families are treated at the border will be an important factor for them during the midterm elections come november. meanwhile, the defense secretary james mattis told reporters yesterday the department of homeland security has asked the pentagon to build two temporary detention camps on military bases. john. >> major, thanks. >>> many lawmakers got their first chance to visit one of the border patrol detention facilities this weekend. democratic senator elizabeth warren toured a facility in mcallen, texas, yesterday, and described what she saw