david begnaud, cbs news, mccallen, texas. >>> ahead on "cbs this morning," more on the immigration debateco-host gayle king will be at the u.s.-mexico border in mccallen, texas. >>> fbi director chris wray appeared on capitol hill to answer questions about the insp criticizing how the agency handled the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. the report found the fbi violated department guidelines and mishandled the investigation. wray told the interstate -- told the senate judiciary committee yesterday that he's committed to making sure the fbi doesn't repeat any mistakes that were made. >> this report is focused on a specific set of events back in 2016 and a small number of fbi employees connected with those events. mistakes made by those employees do not define our 37,000 men and women and the great work they do every day -- >> wray said the fbi has started making changes including how employees handle sensitive investigations. >>> the pentagon says it's formally suspending all planning for a major military exercise with south korea that was supposed to take place in august after his sum

. >>> good evening from mccallen, texas, in the shadow of the u.s.-mexico border, and now the intersection where rigid government policy and human compassion collide with the children of migrants at the center. today we see and for the first time hear what is happening to those, many of those families picked up along this stretch of border, kept in chain link cage-like structures sidehis country's largest deportation immigration processing facility. many of those families separated. parents criminally charged, their children taken from them, all in the name of zero tolerance. a policy tonight that is the object of a growing bipartisan outcry. tonight these heartbreaking images from the southern border are sparking growing outrage. thousands of migrant children being separated from their parents. and now, newly released audio -- released but not verified by nbc news. in it, you can hear 6-year-old allison from el salvador begging to talk to her aunt. the separations the result of a trump administration policy announced in april -- zero tolerance for a

as you can see, mccallen hit hard by flash flooding. another shelter housing teenage boys separated from their families, this is in tornillo which is near the border with new mexico. that's where jeff paul is live outside that facility. jeff? >> yeah, trace. more than a dozen mayors were here at the port of entry. they were trying to bring attention to the facilities. the white tents have children in them after being separated from their families. >> they need to get their act together. they need to develop fortitude and move forward to do things that they have talked about for over 40 years. >> that was el paso's mayor. he along with new york's mayor bill de blasio and eric garcitte and hoping to gain access. they're worried about the more than 2,000 kids. one mayor commented that kids are not poker chips and washington needs to their act together before this situation breaks up more families. trace? >> jeff paul live for it in tornillo, texas. we mentioned the president critical of mexico today. let's go to mexico with william la jeun

and in fact, we have gotten some reporting from chris hayes who's in touch with people in mccallen, texas, 17 immigrants came in today who were supposed to be charged in federal court with misdemeanors but they were not charged so they could stay with their family. that is not the zero tolerance policy. so for the president to say he'll continue zero policy, you can't have both of those things. so in fact they're throwing out those misdemeanors, at least now. at least in the 17 cases that chris heard about today. part of that is just the technicalities. if you charge someone in federal court, you have to hold them in the custody of the u.s. marshals. and you can't hold children there. often people are going through civil proceedings that would be getting an asylum claim or an order of deportation. none of this makes sense. i mean, from where the children are, to where these people are going to stay. we understand the department of defense is looking into places where families can stay to whether or not people will even be charged for crossing the border illegally as the president said the

nbc's jacob soboroff is in mccallen, texas where he got a firsthand look at a facility there. what you saw. >> reporter: this facility is probably the most central building in the entire country when it comes to separating parents from their migrant children. this is the border patrol's central processinger? in mccallen, text yeah, an this is the place where more people cross into the united states illegally than anywhere else. 's also the place that has more family separations, jasmin, than anywhere else in the entire country. over is 100 since that zero tolerance policy has been put into place and it's an extraordinary thing to see what happens once you go inside. it's a facility of 77,000 square feet filled with both adults, family members and children effectively in caging. i don't know any other way to describe it. "the washington post" gave jeff merkley three pin observingos for calling them cages. have you ever put dog inside a kennel, been to a batting cage and that's exactly what it looks like and an increasing number of children are being separated from their parents

. >> reporter: earlier in the day, 25 democratic members of congress came to mccallen, texas, to investigateg facilities with children separated from their undocumented parents. >> happy people -- >> reporter: trump reversed his stance on separating families with an executive order, but the fate of thousands of undocumented children is still not known. >> frankly, we want to go in that building and hug those children. but we know that that's not possible. >> reporter: we travelled with lily ray and her bay area humanitarian group. they raised 1,000 pounds of sloeths and toys to don't -- clothes and toys to donate to migrant children in mccallen, they have their own slogan -- >> "i want my mommy" became the favorite. who doesn't understand that? in any language. every child deserves that. >> reporter: some of the mommy volunteers were with us as we met a mom and son from honduras at the bus station near the detention center. they had just been released from three days at the facility. did you get to stay with your son? >> translator: thank god the new law was in place because if not, we would

steve: we have dispatched our own griff jenkins to mccallen, texas.n centers. he hopes to get inside one of them later today and he joins us live. hey, griff. >> good morning, guys. this is one of the largest detention centers in the country. this is where the border patrol brings whether you are an adult or a child immediately here. adults go on to be processed by ice and children with hhs. the photos are within this mcalen detention center. entire national dialogue over how the zero tolerance policy has been carried out. the president says what he will not stand for is having migrant camps across the country. take a listen. >> the united states will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility. if the democrats would sit down, instead of obstructing, we could have something done very quickly. >> also, yesterday, dhhs secretary kirstjen nielsen taking to the podium in the white house briefing room to defend her actions. >> apprehension without detention and removal ♪ border security. we have repeatedly called on congress to clo

democratic senator elizabeth warren visited one such center in mccallen, texas, visibly shaken. she spoke about what she saw and heard. >> reporter: i saw a 6-month-old baby, little girls, little boys. there are mothers with their babies and with small children. female units are together. if it's a very small child, but. had little girl who is are 12 years old are taij taken away from the rest of their families and held separately or little boys and they are all opt cob crete floors in cages. there's just no other way to describe it. >> elizabeth warren this. with not get due process. anything being done in washington? >> boris sanchez has that part of the story from the white house. >> reporter: president trump digging in his heels going a step further with his harsh rhetoric on immigration. the president of the united states suggesting that a segment of the population of immigrants should not receive due process. the president tweeting, we cannot allow all these people to invade our country. when somebody comes in, we must immediately with no judges or court cases bring them b

camila bernal reports from mccallen, texas on what's next for these immigrants. president trump signing an executive order to address the separation of families at the united states mexico border. president trump: "it's about keeping families together while at the same time being sure that we have a very powerful, very strong border." up until now the administration's zero tolerance policy meant kids -- in some cases infants-- were taken from their parents and put into federal facilities. today -- the president reversed course.president trump: "i didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated."the new order states children will remain with their parents when possible.and the adminstration aims to reverse a court ruling that prohibits children from being in detention for longer than 20 days, something that used to force authorities to release families while they went through court proceedings. rep eric swalwell: "if that's what the president is seeking to do, that will be litigated and the courts have been pretty firm that that is about the longe

i went to mccallen texan yesterday. we're not saying it about canadian children. what they're saying about children from central america, south america, and the caribbean. he is not saying that about everybody. he is saying that about distinctive people at that border. are we at the canadian border saying if we find you coming in another way we're separating you from your children. no, they would not tolerate that and most of donald trump's base would not tolerate seeing white children treated like that. >> the president may if he sees a political advantage to that. >>. >> there is a racial through line for donald trump's presidency. the muslim ban, the tragedy in puerto rico. >> i said this all along. this is white nationalists. this is the president, his administration. we want to change the demographic of this country. we don't don't want them to be afraid or terrorized. 87% of the resettlements of europeans have have been resettled here. it is different when it is asylum seekers at the border. some of these people. >> fill, your paper doing a great job coverin

we're getting a closer look of one shelter holding migrant families in mccallen, texas. and mariana atencio, i know you've been speaking to some parents there. the conversation last hour really put tears in my eyes. >> reporter: it is heartbreaking what we're hearing from all of these families, alex, because those children at the very core of every single story you hear here. we have heard from parents who crossed the border illegally and were placed here by immigration. by i.c.e. and then we're hearing from families like jency and her 11-month-old baby boy brandon who are asylum seekers. they crossed the border from mexico and united states coming from honduras, so she doesn't know, and i just told her that jeff sessions issue d it not enough for asylum to come through. you traveled for a month and a half you didn't know that the guidelines had changed. no, i didn't know. how do you feel after a month and a half with this 11-month-old baby to come here only to find that the guidelines have changed? she doesn't know, because this has changed. what is your message to the

after that visit the first lady was scheduled to visit a customs detention center in mccallen. so the visit was cut short after all of the rain. >> neil: needless what happened to you, let's get a sense of it. woe have harlan hill joining us, kathy arue. let me get your sense of the trip today. so much to get into it. the significance of it. the first lady played a prominent role, we're told, in the positions the president took to reverse the old way of doing things and maybe signing the executive order that would stop separating kids from their parents. >> sure. i think it's great that melania trump visited the center in texas. she always made an effort to put her face out there, even when they had the floods in texas. i have to say the criticism against anyone associated with president trump, associates, family, the outreach and criticism is off the charts. no matter what the president does or says, no matter what his family does or says, they're shredded and taken down to no ends. we didn't see this rhetoric when the actor went after baron trump. >> trace: i agree. but let's

it was just luck she managed to see some of the girls and exactly one baby in mccallen, texas this weekend. >> it's a disturbing picture. there are children by themselves. i saw a 6-month-old baby. little girls, little boys. they're all on concrete floors. in cages. there's just no other way to describe it. they're big chain link cages on cold, concrete floors and metal blankets handed out to people. >> some people working in these facilities are trying to secretly deliver the message of what is happening in them. and the video you are about to see was first shown by rachel in the last hour, it is reportedly from a facility providing day-time care for some of these children in new york city. these are incarcerated children. they are not free to leave. this is not like your kid going today care. you dropping your kid off at day care. the source of the video is reportedly someone who worked in that facility, who then quit after making this recording last week. >>> the eyes are the window of the soul, and if you could see that little girl's eyes like we were able to before the video was blurr

>> yesterday morning at the mccallen border station, at the processing center. they have big cages made out of fencing and wire and nets stretched across the top of them so people can't climb out of them. >> why do kids have to be kept in cages? why can't they just be in a building? what's the justification for that? >> well, that's an excellent question. i don't have an answer for you. i know that every time i probed yesterday on the circumstances, the response was just basically a generic, that is what's required for security, this is what's required for control. in a lotf the areas that i saw yesterday morningt the processing center, it's just a concrete floor and people are being given these space blankets to sleep on. a space blanket is a very thin piece of -- the equivalent of foil. so obviously a very uncomfortable situation to be in. >> senator, who's in charge of that detention facility right there that we're looking at of you trying to enter? who could have let you in? who can people take this up with? who can you take it up with? >> this was the sacre

that's the way we're seeing this zero tolerance policy play out here on the ground in mccallen, texas. on the one hand, you have jeff sessions saying everyone who crosses the border will be prosecuted. and in the federal courthouse across the street, i witnessed mass prosecutions, over 100 people being charged and several being separated from their families. but on the other hand, you have families like santana and his 11-year-old son danny who crossed the border this monday and who were not prosecuted. dhs telling nbc news they're not at 100% capacity. still the fear and that separation, even in their case, inside the deengs centers like the ones you've been talking about this morning is very real. santana, even though you weren't prosecuted, you were separated from your child for five days inside that detention center. you can tell us what that was like and how you felt? >> reporter: i felt so sad and i was just destroyed. danny, can you tell us of this place where you were placed at away from your dad? >> reporter: there was wire, and what else? where are were you sleeping? >> repo

cnn's dianne gallagher is in mccallen, texas. diane, what are you seeing there?hundreds of thousands of people converged in big cities like l.a., washington, new york, chicago. what about there in mcallen where the processing center is? >> reporter: fred, those images coming out of here is what you're seeing people use to dress up, the silver blankets, talking about seeing the kids in cages. those images came from here in mcallen. our population in this particular area not quite the same as chicago or new york, but population considering a couple hundred people showed up. i want you to meet the two organizers, fred, they are people who just graduated high school. this is sara and oscar. sara, why did you feel the need to organize this? you have never done anything like this before. >> no. we felt like this is our community down here and it's a predominantly immigrant community and these are people that we've known all our lives that are being affected by this. i mean, this isn't just the beginning of this with trump's zero tolerance policy, we need to defund isis

she was breastfeeding in a detention center before being brought over to the federal courthouse in mccallenxas, and this attorney was the one that interviewed her and then relayed that story to us. the department of homeland security really pushing back strongly on a conference call with reporters just a short while ago. they insist that this never happened. that they have tried to track down more details on that story, and insist they haven't come across any kind of evidence that that has happened. we've gone back to the attorney who shared that story with us and i was told a little while ago she would release another statement and get back to me on that. but when we spoke with her yesterday, they were standing by that story, and the details of that particular immigrant's story about what happened to her in the detention center. >> ed lavandera, thank you for being there in texas. keep going. appreciate it. >>> coming up next, president trump says the north korean nuclear threat is largely solved, quote, unquote, but he will be on the phone with officials there over the weekend. let's talk

in mccallen, texas, she visited a children's shelter that houses 55 kids, most of them teenagers, only six of them have been separated from their parents. a spokesperson for the first lady said mrs. trump wanted to see the situation for herself and that the trip was 100% her idea. the spokesperson also said the visit was planned before the president signed the executive order ending those separations. >> i'm here to learn about your facility and i also would like to ask you how i can help to these children to reunite with their families as quickly as possible. >> all right. so mrs. trump had also planned to try and visit customs and border patrol processing centers while she was there in texas but had to cancel because of flooding in the area. >> meanwhile, there is speculation this morning about the jacket the first lady wore on her visit. she wore a green jacket as you see there with this message on it, quote, i don't really care, do you? written across the back in white graffiti style text. her spokeswoman said in a statement it's a jacket, there was no hidden message. after today's

this in mccallen, texas and these are images that we can show you because they have been provided byting us show you. they will not let us in to film our own images. a short time ago i spoke to senator jeff merkley who today toured a government facility processing some of these children. watch. >> we did, of course, see the children who were held inside of here in wire mesh chain link cages that are about 30 by 30. a lot of young folks put into them. it is inflicting enormous trauma on the children and enormous angst on the parents who engage in this family separation and there's no need at all and no justification of any kind for doing so as people await asylum hearings. >> i want to bring in dr. julie linton, a pediatrician and spokeswoman for the american academy of pediatrics. doctor, thanks for taking the time for us on your sunday afternoon or evening. you know, we're showing these images, kids being held in cages. other children in processing centers or detention centers away from their parents. we're hearing the stories of children being taken from parents. parents being told

i met a 27-year-old mom who had fled from honduras with her 7-year-old daughter at the mccallen borderion. they had made that 2,000-mile journey. they had just been apprehended by the border patrol agent that they turned themselves into. she, through tears, in that cell in that border patrol station told me she crossed in between ports of entry, and crossed towards that border patrol agent, because she didn't know where else to cross. she said that she was afraid and didn't know what else to do. i want to make sure that that mother who might be fleeing domestic violence, whose daughter or son might be pressed into service for a ruthless gang or cartel h the ability to petition for asylum lawfully and legally here in the united states. that is this country at our best. that is our law right now as i read it. and certainly, the eyes of the world, our kids, our conscious in history will judge us based on how we treat that woman within hours of meeting her, her 7-year-old daughter would be taken from her. and i cannot imagine the trauma that mother and child felt at that moment. we've got

we were near here in mccallen where buses came in to protest outside of that ursula processing facility. there was some tense moments where they stopped a bus full of migrants coming out of the facility. certainly a lot of outrage building here but in the dhs statement the government is insisting that it knows where all the children in its custody are and it's working to reunite them with the families at that point. but many people have a lot of questions about how exactly that will happen. >> i appreciate it. tornillo, texas, northwest of hidalgo, cal perry is there. we're hearing from gabe about the protests in broad strokes. what can we expect where you're at today? >> we have seen small ones and we have seen members of congress trying to get into the compound behind me. you can see the celebrities coming out to raise the profile and the protesters aren't going to get access. we aren't even getting access. even congressmen and senators haven't gotten access. we saw tom udall who was able to get into the compound, he was able to talk to the children in there. he was able to nail down

we learned that in mccallen, texas, not far where you are, some families that had crossed the bordere now being held together. they are not being separated from their kids. does -- is that -- i want your reaction, is that a sign of progress do you believe? is that a signal that this executive order is doing what it was intended to do, reversing the president's policies and ledding the families -- letting the families stay together? >> if they're letting families stay together that's a step forward. here's the problem. thousands of kids who are separated right now, no plan to get them back together. and zero tolerance is still the policy. so folks seeking asylum -- this is an american tradition to let people fleeing oppression, a lot of whom who are our grandparents, great grandparents, give them a chance to prove they belong here. the zero tolerance pol does not allow that for that. so maybe it's some small progress but we need much bigger answers here. >> very quickly, mayor, of the children you talked about, the ones who are in new york city that were brought to new york city in th

he's live for us from mccallen, texas. talk about what you're learning there from the folks who are trying to get to the border or are crossing and what's happening once they get across. >> reporter: one of the things that the trump administration has said since this zero-tolerance policy was unveiled in early may is that they had hoped it would serve as a deterrent as news of this spread through central america and mexico where most of the immigrants are coming from, that that would stop them and convince them not to come. as we found, that's not the case. it's hard to see people moving through the thick south texas vegetation. the rio grande rolls by just beyond the treeline. then just like that, they appear out of the brush, a small group of undocumented immigrants walking into a public park. we just came across this group of undocumented immigrants in mission, texas. two adults, four children just finished crossing the rio graends a while ago. now they're -- grande a while ago. now they're in the custody of border patr

. >> stephanie ruhle on the ground there in mccallen, sx. thanks. want to bring in now white house director mark short who is joining you us on the white house lawn with the lawnmower behind you. thank you for making this work i know you had to do some juggling. let me start off there's a lot to talk about with the president going to the hill today, tons of talk about immigration and a lot of talk about this policy of separating kids from parents. >> yeah. >> is that policy meant to be a deterrent or not? >> hallie, i don't think it's so much meant to be a deterrent it's just trying to enforce a law. and let me go back and explain this because i know there's a lot of misinformation on this so bear with me for one second. 1997 hhs worked with ins on a deal that says half 48 hours children have to be hand or to hhs and then within 20 days they're to be released from detention centers. 2008 that is codified into law for very good intentions. in many case, young children were being used for sex trafficking and so there was a sense that, look, the faster

we get a report from stephanie rhule in mccallen, mexico, and gabe gutierrez is just across the borderll begin with you. you're looking at how this policy is playing with evangelicals, a group that's long stood behind and supported president trump. what are they saying about this? >> you know, they are somewhat split, willie. there is a new quinnipiac poll that says 66% of americans asked oppose the child separation policy, that sounds logical, but 55% of republicans, they support it, and within that 55%, you still have a large majority of evangelicals. i know you pointed it out a moment ago, franklin graham, who said he opposes this and some other evangelicals, but for the most part they stand with the president because they believe his ideology supports their overall values, and that's what's stunning. i want you to take a listen specifically to those right here in this community in mccallum. >> blind faith is how you have to trut the lord. we have to put our faith in him. >> the lord and elected officials are two different things. >> yes, but i don't believe any person is in any off

. >> in mccallen, mass criminal prosecutions are occurring. they are talking about ramping up from 70 people being proce processed a day through pleas. now it's up to 160. they want to get to 380 by august. what would that mean -- if you were running that office and you had people who were trying to track down officers and money laundering or serious federal offenses and you had to go from 70 of these a day to 350 and what it would mean for your office in terms of the resources? >> you would have to reassign prosecutors from other units in the office to focusing on this. just to put it in perspective. in a given year the department of justice prospects about 70,000 case f. the deputy is going to continue to prosecute every illegal entry case there would be will 300,000 cases. that is more than we currently have capacity to do. unless we are prepared to hire lots of new prosecutors we don't currently have the resources to do it. even if everybody deposits everything that means prosecutors in those border districts are not going to be prosecutin

>> reporter: we've seen protesters here in front of the mccallen custom center, a processing center beforeborder illegally are initially taken. we've seen the number of protesters go from zero to 200. as far as the mood, it got hot about two hours ago here. a bus load of parents and children being moved from one detention center to another was pretty much surrounded by protesters. one of them threw herself actually in front of the bus and had to be pulled away by colleagues. a lot of yelling also, free the children, free the children, despite the fact that these were parents and children together, not in fact being separated. still a real perception here on the ground that children are being separated and a real em notioemotional outburst and rean to it. they've put up metal barricades around the customs office. >> eric: while the demonstrations were ongoing, what is the progress that's being made. what is the government doing to reunite parents and the children in cuss custody. >> reporter: a lot of lawmakers are trying to get a firsthand look themselves. yesterday we saw two republican s

this young 27-year-old mother that i just met at the border patrol station in mccallen who had been apprehendede turned herself in to a border patrol agent with her 7-year-old daughter, they're holding hands, the 7-year-old girl and 27-year-old mother not knowing that within hours they would be separated, holding hands as they have been for the last three weeks over the last 2,000 miles. she's talking to me through tears. i asked, why didn't you cross at a port of entry, which is the lawful way to petition for asylum? she doesn't know. furthermore, in renosa, mexico, those cartels determine those crossing points. they determine where she crosses. she's trying to get that little girl to safety. did not know that within hours that little girl would be taken from her. she, the mother, would be prosecuted, then turned over to enforcement removal operations and sent back to her country, maybe not reunited with that girl that she made the journey for in the first place. so, no, this is at the discretion of the trump administration. it is cruel. it is inhumane but it is now on all of us because this i

i have been inside that federal court room in mccallen, texas. three buses that head there every day early in the morning with migrants who crossed the border as early as the very same week, a couple of days before. they cross the border and that is a misdemeanor. they are brought inside that courtroom in shackles. it is extremely humiliating to witness. shackles on their feet and hands. they tell me, the lawyers do because i wasn't allowed as a journalist inside the courtroom to speak to any of the migrants, the lawyers tell me they only get to meet them just an hour before if at all to tell them what their rights are and they were advised to sit in that courtroom where the judge is explaining everything to them in english, they were advised to plead guilty so if they were separated from their kids, reunited with their children and the proceeding can get underway. it is a courtroom that sees -- it has two sessions, a morning and an afternoon session. in the morning session when i was there there were more than 70 people there. and the time that

ayer pasamos porque estÁbamos reconociendo el Área aquÍ en mccallen y vimos como unos padres se bajaban las calles de esta ciudad en silencio hasta llegar a albergues, de las caridades catÓlicas en donde pueden pasar la noche, donde reciben consejerÍa, ropa y comida y donde por fin pueden descansar esperando que el amanecer les traiga un mejor futuro. un mejor futuro que sÓlo les dura un par de horas porque en el centro donde vieron aquÍ que no es muy lejano cerca de la iglesia catÓlica donde los albergan y reciben y luego regresan a la estaciÓn de tren donde muchos logran irse de descansos familiares y esa es la condiciÓn. carla: lo que rescato de esta historia en este caso es que tambiÉn hay finales felices, no? como en el caso de esta familia, quÉ bendiciÓn que se pueden quedar en este paÍs y estar juntos como familia y eso tenemos que buscar, no perder la fe ni la esperanza de que esta situaciÓn mejore por el bien de las familias. tengo entendido que se llevarÁ a cabo una vigilia. >> asÍ es, se estÁ organizando, quiero contarles, se va llevar a cabo una vigilia esta noche para pedir

. >> reporter: we are outside of the rio grande valley sector processing center in mccallen texas.ou come, whether adult or minor, as soon as you've been apprehended by border pa patrol. as we entered this national dialogue, maria, about the humanity of how these people are being treated, the president wanted to make it clear that he won't stand to have migrant camps across the country. take a listen. >> the united states will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility. if the democrats would sit down instead of obstructing we could having done very quickly. >> reporter: maria, the secretary of d.h.s. also took to the white house podium to defend the zero tolerance policy. she says that, well, here is how you get real border security. take a listen. >> this entire crisis, just to be clear, is not new. it's been occurring and expanded over many decades. but currently it's the exclusive product of loopholes in our federal immigration laws that prevent illegal immigrant minors and family members from being detained and removed to their home country. >> reporte