. >> reporter: tammy leitner, msnbc, merchison, texas. >>> coming up next -- three weeks into the trump presidency and we have a full-fledged court battle. >>> plus, trench warfare on the senate floor. senator bernie sanders reading that letter from coretta scott king now. you're seeing him live on the floor. is there any hope for republicans and democrats to work together during the trump years? any hope at all? we'll find out. >>> before you get to totally hopeless, check out something to brighten your day. a police officer breaking it

nbc's tammy leitner has the story. >> reporter: at health care reform town halls this week. hostile crowds, angry residents. the protests reminiscent of seven years ago when obama care was put in place. only this time the anger isn't aimed at democrats but at republicans who want to repeal the law. >> when the aca was passed in 2009, my party had virtually no input. no input. >> reporter: florida congressman gus bilirakis scrapped his prepared statement when the crowd of several hundred turned hostile. >> don't you get the message? >> lisa dakota confronted the congressman. >> we're in danger, and it's time to step up for preexisting conditions. >> reporter: a mother worried her autistic daughter will be dropped from her insurance if aca is repealed. >> i'm self-employed. so i have the perfect storm. [ shame! shame! shame ] >> similar scenes at town halls across the country this week. >> i'm fighting congress for my life. >> reporter: in salt lake city, anger as a town hall hits capacity. [ chanting ] >> reporter: in sacramento, constituents made emotional pleas for represen

tammy leitner is in new port richey, florida, just north of clearwater. describe or give us a forecast of what people are expected to see and say today. >> reporter: good morning. that's unclear, but i can tell you law enforcement is take nothing chances. there will be extra sheriff's deputies on hand today as well as a security plan in place for the congressman just in case they need to get him out of here. as you know, these town halls have been heated all week. in salt lake city about a thousand people showed up at a high school auditorium. there wasn't enough room for everybody. about 200 people were outside chanting open the doors opening to get in. representative jason chaffetz spoke for about 75 minutes. things got extremely heated. and that wasn't the only place. in cincinnati, ohio, protesters showed up at a chamber of commerce event where senator rob portman was set to speak. he never showed up because of the protesters there. in sacramento, representative tom mcclintock answered some tough questions. back here, we're about two hours away still,

we get more from nbc's tammy leitner. >> reporter: the united states is just 100 yards from this dustyder town, yet it might as well be 100 miles for these cuban migrants. for years like people like lady martinez had years to set foot in the u.s. to gain refugee status here. he found after traveling to mexico that traveling here would not mean a reunion with his wife in miami. martinez says he's been waiting here since january 14th. his wife lady del rio made it to the u.s. just before the border closed, leaving behind her husband and two teenage daughters. now she is in the u.s. alone, desperate. the family sold their car and home to make the journey, and now they have nothing left in cuba. trapped mid-journey, apart. many cubans believe the repeal of wet foot/dry foot was coming causing a rush to the border. nearly 57,000 cubans entered the u.s. in fiscal 2016, more than twice the number in 2014. one thing that hasn't changed, a high-tech effort to spot migrants in the rough waters between florida and cuba. >> we can be about 25,000 feet away, and we can tell what kind of boat it is

tammy leitner, nbc news, mobile, alabama. >>> that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday night. lester holt will be in tomorrow. i'm kate snow reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow on msnbc from washington. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. an east bay community... coff. a mudslide h maged the nearby water supply... anddamag. ==peggy/2-shot== the news at starts nowgood even ==terry/2-shot==and i'm terry m >>> thank you for joining us tonight. >> it is a tense situation for homeowners in the east bay. a landslide closedbreaking a water main. it happened north of pleasanton. christie is live. >> reporter: we heard from the public works department. they say part of the problem they are dealing with is this

tammy leitner, nbc news, mobile, alabama. >>> that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday night.l be in tomorrow. i'm kate snow reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow on msnbc from washington. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. her husband, horrified. >> my wife made a phone call to me to say that she was held by gunpoint. >> her mother, terrified. >> it's your worst nightmare imagining what's happening to your child. >> a note with big demands left by mysterious kidnapper who is seem to know all, see all. >> they are watching the house? >> they are watching the house. >> and then the victim herself calling. her mom jumping in to work with police would hand over the ransom herself. >> if i didn't drop the money properly, that would be the end for quinn. >> she dropped the cash all right, but who picked it up? >> and that's where everything

tammy leitner is there for us. y, talk about what people had to say today. >> reporter: hey, sheinelle, hundreds of people showed up, so many that couldn't even fit in this room. a lot of personal stories being shared today. emotions were high as i mentioned. i want to give you a sense of what it was like in this room a short while ago. let's listen to a little bit of sound from earlier. >> i am 77 years old, and i think it's unconscionable for this politician to tell me that at 74 i will be facing death penalties. >> i like my medicare. i want to keep my medicare. please, there are parts of the aca that make my medicare easier because of the aca. so do not get rid of the aca. it will have so many big problems. it's not funny. and this is just a little bit, and then here, don't you get the message? >> reporter: i'm here with ivana shepherd. what stuck with me, you told me your brother has epilepsy, and you remember your mom on the phone with the insurance companies and nobody would insure him. >> that's right. befor

tammy leitner, nbc news, mobile, alabama. >>> that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday night. lester holt will be in tomorrow. i'm kate snow reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow on msnbc from washington. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. an east bay community... coff. a mudslide h maged the nearby water supply... anddamag. ==peggy/2-shot== the news at starts nowgood even ==terry/2-shot==and i'm terry m >>> thank you for joining us tonight. >> it is a tense situation for homeowners in the east bay. a landslide closedbreaking a water main. it happened north of pleasanton. christie is live. >> reporter: we heard from the public works department. they say part of the problem they are dealing with is this landslide is still moving. there is a water pipe broken wide open from 90 homes on the south side. it is without water service. there is limited roadway access in and out. this is on morgan territory road. this is a 100 foot slide that forced the closure of the road. residents are cut off if their homes are without the water service. and using the large

tammy leitner on the ground in new port richey, florida. we're also jealous of you. you are in florida. we are not. thank you. joining me no now, our two gues. i think we can all say we're jealous of the folks in florida right now. would you agree? >> i'm from miami so i'm always jealous of people in florida. >> we've gotten that out of the way. matt, talk about the protests and whether or not you think this is going to have impact on republicans and how they carry themselves back to d.c. on issues about the repeal and replace of obamacare. >> absolutely. jason chaffetz is a unique character in that he's ao the held of the house government oversight reform committee, and there's a lot of concern about that on the ground there. but there are a thousand people not just in the build bug outside of the building. we saw this with justin amosh, who got a friendly reception in michigan, but he had 600 people with another couple hundred outside too. everyone is motivated here. what republicans are being reminded are what democrats learned in 2009, is when you make a large-sc

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nbc's tammy leitner spoke with a family split by the new immigration order. what did they tell you?reporter: hey, katy, this one family's story is becoming increasingly common. we have spoken with people stopped at airports all over this country, stopped and questioned. for some of them, their future really is uncertain. this woman paints the life she has lived. >> sadness and lost her, her son and everything lost. >> reporter: the artist and mother of four fled syria. her son stayed behind and was kidnapped by isis. she says he was among the first to be publicly beheaded. >> america is country of freedom. >> reporter: she eventually became a permanent resident in chicago, but now she wonders if she really is free. after a recent trip to dubai to meet her granddaughter for the first time, she says she was stopped at the airport there and questioned for hours. similar scenarios played out in airports around the world after president donald trump signed the executive order restricting trav from seven musl-majority countries for 90 days. >> not my fault i'm muslim. >> reporter: protest

steve. >> all right, tammy leitner in chicago. thanks for that. remember, do not miss it tonight. few hours from now. chris hayes' special town hall event, talking about officials and residents about what is sparking the rise in violence. also, what president trump is trying to do about it. this is "chicago in the crosshairs." that airs tonight 8:00 eastern live on msnbc. you are not going to want to miss it. that will do it for this hour here in new york. i am steve kornacki. "mtp daily" starts right now. >>> it's thursday. is it midnight in america? tonight damage control. a white house on constant offense to scare voters and shut down its critics. >> what you should do is ask senator blumenthal about his vietnam record that didn't exist after years of saying it did. ask him about his vietnam record. >> is this really the new normal for this new white house? >>> what's left? should the democrats listen to their base and try to stop the gop at every turn? and trump adviser kellyanne conway criticizing after promoting ivanka trump's fashion line. >> go buy ivanka's stuff is what i

tammy leitner has more. >> reporter: it looks like a backyard shed. >> here's the hidden door to the. >> reporter: below the steel door, a secret underground bunker. we agreed not to disclose the location of this one. >> this is really something. >> reporter: a glimpse into a world most never see. >> how many people would this sleep? >> five on top. five here. so ten. this is actually an escape tunnel that goes way out into the woods and you pop up. if you have to come in here, that means the outside world no longer exists as we know it. this is doomsday scenario right here. >> reporter: for some that doomsday scenario is right now. >> the obama administration, our sales went up about 250%. trump administration in the past month, our sales probably went up 500%. >> reporter: clyde scott designs and builds underground bunkers in texas, about 75 miles outside of dallas. he says the bunker business has been booming since trump was elected president and trump's tough talk on war, terrorism and nuclear fallout has some on edge. what are most people preparing for? >> most people are prepar

nbc's tammy leitner has more. >> reporter: at health care reform town halls this week, hostile crowdsangry residents. the protests reminiscent of seven years ago when obamacare was put in place. only this time the anger isn't aimed at democrats but at republicans who want to repeal the law. >> when the aca was passed in 2009, my party had virtually no input. no input. scrapped his prepared statement when the crowd of several hundred turned hostile. >> don't you get the message? >> it's time to step up for pre-existing conditions. >> reporter: a mother worried her autistic daughter will be dropped from her insurance if aca is repealed. >> i'm self-employed. so i have the perfect storm. >> reporter: similar scenes at town halls across the country this week. >> i'm fighting congress for my life. >> reporter: in salt lake city, anger as a town hall hits capacity. in sacramento, constituents made emotional pleas for representative tom mcclintock to reconsider repealing aca. >> my wife has two open-heart surgeries on my fixed income. we will not be able to afford takes, and she will die. >>

tammy leitner, thank you. >>> president trump vowing to fight the travel ban case. earlier this morning he sent out this tweet uniting a "washington times" report. president trump says our legal system is broken. 77% of refugees allowed into the u.s. since travel reprieve hail from seven suspect countries. during his working weekend in florida, while traveling to mar-a-lago yesterday he said there are several options his administration is considering to fight the court's decision. >> in honor of the decision, we will -- we'll see. either monday or tuesday. >> you talked about security measures. is that -- >> we have a very, very strong vetting. i call it extreme vetting. we're going to have strong security in our country. we're going to have people come into our country that want to be here for good reason. >> also today, officials from imgags and customs enforcement are pushing back on a claim by activists who said a series of raids in several states this week were connected to president trump's executive order. i.c.e. officials say the raids focused on illegal imm

nbc's tammy leitner spent some time in one of the neighborhoods literally caught in the crossfire. >>he windows are still shot out. >> reporter: in this neighborhood on the west side vallerie williams has lost count of the dead. >> they die on the front porch. they die on the corner. they die right in the middle of the treat. >> reporter: you have seen all that? >> all of that. >> reporter: the shootings happen daily. >> that's not normal life. that is not the way you should live. we are not in some war torn, you know, place. i'm on my corner of my home here in chicago. >> reporter: this neighbor used to be vibrant. full of families, kids outside playing. now businesses are boarded up and people are afraid to go about their daily lives. antoine tyler's family has lived here in austin for 60 years. >> it's not a neighbor no more. it's a hood. we need our neighborhood back. >> reporter: drugs are sold openly, rival gangs respect no one and violence is a universal language. >> i talked to a kid who was ten years old and he said he could get a gun easier than he could get canny. >> report