Transcripts For CNNW CNN Tonight With Don Lemon 20180619 : v

It is a simple message. Do your job. Thats all for us tonight. Thank you for watching. Cnn tonight with don lemon starts now. I gave the whole network, cnn tonight. Thank you, chris. Were going to do our jobs. Youve been doing yours. Were going to keep folks to the facts here and hopefully the people in washington will do as you say, do their damn jobs. Is lets continue on, my friends. See you tomorrow. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. The Trump Administration is trying hard to deny and deflect intense criticism of its immigration policy, separating undocumented parents from their children at the southern border. They can and are trying to deny those facts. Our job on this program is to bring you those facts, and we will do that tonight. But first you have to hear this. Its the sound of what propublica reports are the voices of little kids from Central America being held at a customs and Border Protection facility last week, sobbing for their parents. [ children crying ] its heartbreaking. Since we began reporting on this story, as the crisis at the border grows each day, a lot of people have said this is not what we stand for. This is not america. This is not who we are. But is it . Because i want to you listen to some more, and you cannot deny that this is who we are right now. This is what we have become. We are now a country separating Vulnerable Children from their families. And in this case, as youre about to hear, a sixyearold girl desperate for someone to phone her aunt. [ speaking spanish ] we are a nation that has always welcomed people from around the world to our shores. And lets face it, some of us, some of our ancestors have been more welcome than others. Many came here out of desperation. Many came here carrying hope. Some came here in chains and ships. But all had a hand in making america great. Long before that was a corny Campaign Slogan when it was a real thing. Bloorksd sweat, and tears, when it really meant something. As these families are ripped apart, its important to note that 133 years ago yesterday, someone else arrived on our shores. A french ship sailed into new york harbor carrying lady liberty. There is a famous poem inscribed on the statues base. The famous poem inscribed on the statues base. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, your yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse are of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me, i lift my lamp besides the golden door. What does that golden door look like tonight . I want to begin with ginger thompson, a Senior Reporter at propublica and Jennifer Wright a human rights attorney. Good evening to both of you. Good evening. Its awful. Jennifer, i want to get to you, and ginger, youre here with me. As you were listening to that audio, you were almost in tears. Yeah. Ive spent the weekend with this tape and it still really shakes me. Especially the sixyearold girl. Why so . I have nephews, i have nieces, i have a granddaughter who is about six years old, and so hearing her voice, you know, brings all of those people who i lve to mind. What does that golden door look like tonight . I think thats what this story was about, sort of saying enforcing all of us to reckon with what this policy is. I think theres been an attempt to kind of make this a sterile policy debate and to even characterize the children as gang members and risks and threats to the country. I think if you wanted to defend this policy, thats fine, but we need to be able to say clearly what the policy is and what the policy does. And the voices that have been missing in this debate about this policy are the voices of the children. Jennifer, i want to get to you. We have lots to talk about. And again, welcome to the program. We should note that cnn has not been able to verify the source of this audio or the events that reportedly occur on it, but we have reached out to u. S. Customs and Border Protection and are awaiting a response from them. Youre the one who released this heartbreaking audio here to pro publica. What can you tell us about these children . How did you get it . How did i get it . Yes, maam. A whistle blower was so appalled by the weeping of the children and the obvious trauma being inflicted upon them that the whistleblower prepared the tape and brought it to me for legal advice and then authorized me to pass it on to ginger thompson at propublica and to other any press agency that was interested in making this reality known. So, jennifer, what did your client say about the ages of the children that we hear on the recording . Give us some background here. There is a range of ages. Some of the older kids in the room were unaccompanied minors that would probably be teenagers, but theres just a few of those. The rest of them were very small children, as you can hear on the tape. You know, some fouryearold, fiveyearold, sixyearold, sevenyearold, in that range. Ginger, we talked a little about the sixyearold girl, but we hear the one child asking officials to call her aunt and she recited the phone number. You called that number and spoke to the childs aunt. What did she say . She talked about how terrifying it was for her to get a call from her sixyearold niece after having traveled a month from Central America, through mexico, across the border. The little girl was crying and saying, you know, aunt, ill behave myself. Ill be a good girl. But please come get me because im alone. And, you know, shes here going through an asylum claim of her own and is in a legally precarious place, particularly now the aunt . The aunt. And so shes sort of at a loss of what to do and how to help. So shes still there, the sixyearold . The sixyearold is now in a shelter being run by health and human services, so shes out of the Border Patrol facility. I want to bring in now dr. Alan shapiro. Dr. Shapiro is a pediatrician in and the cofounder of terra firma, a health care that provides justice for children. Doctors, welcome to the program. You heard that awful audio, and im so emotional. I hate to be this emotional because i want to get the story out. I dont want to detract from it. But the children that had been at this center for less than 24 hours, what is your initial reaction . I imagine its damaging. Im not a doctor, but hearing people cry like that, how damaging is that . First of all, its absolutely heartbreaking to hear those tapes. What were hearing is a manifestation of acute stress reaction that these kids are going through. These are kids that have suffered so much already, to arrive in our Justice System for protection and to be torn out of the arms of their parents are leading to conditions such as these acute stress reactions were seeing that is very worrisome. So what acute stress does is it leads to regressive behavior, withdrawal, aggressiveness, bedwetting, things that all the milestones that they mastered are now getting reversed. Thats very concerning. It affects their learning and their development and growth. And we also know what this stress is doing, especially over a longer period of time, is leading to toxic stress. And toxic stresses release the exposure of those stress hormones that we know are the fight and flight hormones, that red alert hormones that can lead to longterm chronic problems like high blood pressure, like cancer, like learning disabilities. This is very disturbing, and really, to me as a pediatrician seems like governmentsanctioned child endangerment. Ill talk to you a little bit more about that, but i want the viewer to hear more. Jennifer, i want to play one moment. This moment stood out to me again. Watch this. [ children crying ] [ speaking spanish ] so that comment, jennifer, from the border agent extremely upsetting. What is this whistleblower telling you about how these children are being treated by officials . Theyre certainly not being understood and theyre being sort of jovial and joking around and trying to jolly the children who have just been torn away from their parents. And we have to remember that almost all of these people hurrying north, going through extreme dangers trying to get to the rio grande, extraordinary dangers, leaving everything behind, these people are refugees. Trump wants to talk about how these people are, in fact, criminals. But we have to remember that the cartels, they can buy any police officer, they can buy airplanes, they can buy boats. They dont need to send starving, terrorized families to try to run the river. So were punishing the victims here and sort of joking around with the kids as if it was no big deal. I find that infuriating. The other thing is dr. Shapiro mentioned the American Academy of pediatrics said the same thing you did, the Trump Administration separating families at the border is child abuse. I want to get zef zeleny who asked secretary nielsen that. Heres how she responded. Watch this. How is this not specifically child abuse for these innocent children who are indeed being separated from their parents . I want to be clear on a couple other things. The vast majority, vast, vast majority who are in the care of h its right now, 10,000 of the 12,000 were sent alone by their parents. Thats when they were separated. We now care for them, we have high standards, we give them meals, we give them education, we give them medical care. There is videos, there is tvs. I visited the Detention Centers myself. That would be the answer to the question. What do you think of the response . Im incredulous, to be honest. I just cant believe how families fleeing for their lives can be blamed for what is happening and what our policy is. What can you tell us about the conditions, sandra . In the centers . Yeah. So the problem with these centers has been that the access to them is extremely limited, right . They are, you know, Big Box Stores in some cases, walmarts in some cases that have been converted into holding facilities. And so inside of these box centers are kinds of kennels where, you know, men are kept in a couple of kennels, women are kept in another couple of kennels, unaccompanied children in another and then, you know, some of those unaccompanied children now are not really unaccompanied but theyve been torn away from their families. Thank you, all. Thank you, i appreciate it. Jennifer, thank you so much. I appreciate you coming on as well. Were going to talk we have a lot more to talk about, including i want to know why arent we seeing girls and pictures of girls . Is that deliberate . Because were only seeing guys, were only seeing men and very few adult women, but girls . Whats going on here . Some say theyre defending their policy at the outrage of the growing at the separation of children. This was played in the White House Briefing room today as well. Two white house reporters, they will join me next. Behr presents ordinary versus overachiever. A lot of p but just one can behr through it all. Behr premium plus, a top rated interior paint at a great price. Family friendly, disaster proof. Find it exclusively at the home depot. Prepare for your demise, do your worst, doctor. I will. But first, a little presentation. Hijacking earths Geothermal Energy supply. Phase 1. Choosing the right drill bit. As long as evil villains reveal their plans, you can count on geico saving folks money. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. The toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. If you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. Help stop the journey of gum disease. Try parodontax toothpaste. Introducing e trade personalized investments professionally managed portfolios customized to help meet your financial goals. Youll know what youre invested in and how its performing. So you can spend more Time Floating about on your inflatable swan. [ding] captured lightning in a bottle. Over 260 years later as the nations leader in Energy Storage were ensuring americans have the energy they need, whenever they need it nextera energy. The secretary of Homeland Security security defending the Trump Administrations immigration policy thats leading to undocumented families being separated at the southern border. This is happening as audit is released of children in Detention Centers sobbing for their parents. I want to bring in april ryan a White House Correspondent from American Urban Radio Networks and executive editor of sentinel newspapers. Good evening to both of you. Happy to have you both on tonight. Tell us what is happening at the white house. The press briefing today was unbelievable. Thank you both. April, ill start with you. Before the briefing today reporters listened to the audit of children crying. What was it like when it played at the briefing today. Even before that, the president of the Correspondents Association who is a bloomberg reporter, she played it. We were all listening to it. And then others started listening. This is before sarah or the secretary of Homeland Security came out. And while the secretary of Homeland Security was talking, olivia newsy, a reporter, started playing. She was way in the back of the room. We heard the children wailing. This is as the Homeland Security head was talking. At issue, olivia newsy was saying, have you seen, have you heard this tape . So she never got a response so she started playing it. And she acknowledged it on twitter that she was the one way back in the back of the room. We could hear it all the way up front. You could actually hear it on the audio. You could see hogan, giggly, and sarah looking around to see who was playing it. Im still trying to figure out who played the darth vader march at one point in time too i didnt hear that. Some people had asked about that, it was up front. The scary thing is the reaction from this administration. They doubled down on them being victims themselves of being held hostage by democrats, and the logic that they employed was, were not holding these poor, innocent victims hostage, but if we dont get what we want, were going to continue the policy. So they are using them as leverage. They as much as admitted it. Don, i have to tell you, this is one issue ive covered for 35 years, and its frightening in its scope. Both parties have punted this issue for years. And when you think about the fact that this country you read the new colossus at the beginning. You think of the foundations of our republic and how were treating these people. These kids have to endure they start, they travel a month. These parents have nothing. They come to the border. They are sometimes kidnapped by the people who brought them over, they are robbed, they are beaten, they are sexually abused. Some of them end up dead. Ive seen them stack four or five high like cord wood in a 5x8 uhaul, suffocated to death. And then they come over here, were supposed to be the shining city on the hill, and the rest of their humanity is stripped of them and their children are taken from them. Is this who we are as a country . Its a question we have to ask. And there was a question asked about compassion, and this administration is more determined to enforce the law than to show compassion for the victims. These people arent gang members. These people are victims. Thats the thing, because i think theyre trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Exactly. Its not really the law, and weve already explained that. I had several people on last week who tried to say it was, now all of a sudden this week theyre admitting the Trump Administration did change the policy because the facts are just not on their side. Its at their discretion. April, has anyone at the white house or with the administration tried to explain to you or anyone there why you cant have zero tolerance without separating parents from their kids . Well, you know, today i dont know what they were trying to say because it was back and forth. You know, the Homeland Security secretary said one thing and sarah came back let me tell you what she said. Last night she tweeted, we do not have a policy separating families at the border, period. But it was in context. She was still defending the policy. Then today she defended the separations very publicly. Watch this, april, and ill let you finish your point. Heres the bottom line. Dhs is no longer ignoring the law. We are enforcing the laws as they exist on the books. As long as illegal Entry Remains a criminal offense, dhs will not look the other way. At first shes like, that isnt our policy or whatever. Now shes all in, but go on. Heres the deal. From the very beginning this administration has said if you indeed illegally cross the border, youve committed a crime. This administration is saying they dont care if its man, woman, cat, dog, child, adult. Theyre going to look at it as a crime. Theyre trying to put teeth in this to set an example. But thats one of the reasons i ask the question about the pond issue. Are these kids being used as a pawn, because it is trying to fix the broken immigration system, immigration reform. And Homeland Security had said, no, the kids arent being used as a pawn. But Sarah Huckabee sanders says no, the kids arent being used as a pawn. They can secretary sanders said, oh, we want everything, its all or nothing, to include the wall. Its leverage, its political congressman, say one thing and do another, yet the president can change this policy. A briefing had been delayed, delayed, delayed three and a half hours. So how did they did they want her there . Was sara not willing to take the brunt of all this . I know a couple people told me back the guy at 25 minutes after that briefing supposed to start, im the guy that says where are you . And they say, if you tell me, youll tell somebody else. So the other guy. I think he wanted security to speak to it specifically because sarah had already tried to handle that and we saw how that ended up. And then then the Trump Administration<\/a> is trying hard to deny and deflect intense criticism of its immigration policy, separating undocumented parents from their children at the southern border. They can and are trying to deny those facts. Our job on this program is to bring you those facts, and we will do that tonight. But first you have to hear this. Its the sound of what propublica reports are the voices of little kids from Central America<\/a> being held at a customs and Border Protection<\/a> facility last week, sobbing for their parents. [ children crying ] its heartbreaking. Since we began reporting on this story, as the crisis at the border grows each day, a lot of people have said this is not what we stand for. This is not america. This is not who we are. But is it . Because i want to you listen to some more, and you cannot deny that this is who we are right now. This is what we have become. We are now a country separating Vulnerable Children<\/a> from their families. And in this case, as youre about to hear, a sixyearold girl desperate for someone to phone her aunt. [ speaking spanish ] we are a nation that has always welcomed people from around the world to our shores. And lets face it, some of us, some of our ancestors have been more welcome than others. Many came here out of desperation. Many came here carrying hope. Some came here in chains and ships. But all had a hand in making america great. Long before that was a corny Campaign Slogan<\/a> when it was a real thing. Bloorksd sweat, and tears, when it really meant something. As these families are ripped apart, its important to note that 133 years ago yesterday, someone else arrived on our shores. A french ship sailed into new york harbor carrying lady liberty. There is a famous poem inscribed on the statues base. The famous poem inscribed on the statues base. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, your yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse are of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me, i lift my lamp besides the golden door. What does that golden door look like tonight . I want to begin with ginger thompson, a Senior Reporter<\/a> at propublica and Jennifer Wright<\/a> a human rights attorney. Good evening to both of you. Good evening. Its awful. Jennifer, i want to get to you, and ginger, youre here with me. As you were listening to that audio, you were almost in tears. Yeah. Ive spent the weekend with this tape and it still really shakes me. Especially the sixyearold girl. Why so . I have nephews, i have nieces, i have a granddaughter who is about six years old, and so hearing her voice, you know, brings all of those people who i lve to mind. What does that golden door look like tonight . I think thats what this story was about, sort of saying enforcing all of us to reckon with what this policy is. I think theres been an attempt to kind of make this a sterile policy debate and to even characterize the children as gang members and risks and threats to the country. I think if you wanted to defend this policy, thats fine, but we need to be able to say clearly what the policy is and what the policy does. And the voices that have been missing in this debate about this policy are the voices of the children. Jennifer, i want to get to you. We have lots to talk about. And again, welcome to the program. We should note that cnn has not been able to verify the source of this audio or the events that reportedly occur on it, but we have reached out to u. S. Customs and Border Protection<\/a> and are awaiting a response from them. Youre the one who released this heartbreaking audio here to pro publica. What can you tell us about these children . How did you get it . How did i get it . Yes, maam. A whistle blower was so appalled by the weeping of the children and the obvious trauma being inflicted upon them that the whistleblower prepared the tape and brought it to me for legal advice and then authorized me to pass it on to ginger thompson at propublica and to other any press agency that was interested in making this reality known. So, jennifer, what did your client say about the ages of the children that we hear on the recording . Give us some background here. There is a range of ages. Some of the older kids in the room were unaccompanied minors that would probably be teenagers, but theres just a few of those. The rest of them were very small children, as you can hear on the tape. You know, some fouryearold, fiveyearold, sixyearold, sevenyearold, in that range. Ginger, we talked a little about the sixyearold girl, but we hear the one child asking officials to call her aunt and she recited the phone number. You called that number and spoke to the childs aunt. What did she say . She talked about how terrifying it was for her to get a call from her sixyearold niece after having traveled a month from Central America<\/a>, through mexico, across the border. The little girl was crying and saying, you know, aunt, ill behave myself. Ill be a good girl. But please come get me because im alone. And, you know, shes here going through an asylum claim of her own and is in a legally precarious place, particularly now the aunt . The aunt. And so shes sort of at a loss of what to do and how to help. So shes still there, the sixyearold . The sixyearold is now in a shelter being run by health and human services, so shes out of the Border Patrol<\/a> facility. I want to bring in now dr. Alan shapiro. Dr. Shapiro is a pediatrician in and the cofounder of terra firma, a health care that provides justice for children. Doctors, welcome to the program. You heard that awful audio, and im so emotional. I hate to be this emotional because i want to get the story out. I dont want to detract from it. But the children that had been at this center for less than 24 hours, what is your initial reaction . I imagine its damaging. Im not a doctor, but hearing people cry like that, how damaging is that . First of all, its absolutely heartbreaking to hear those tapes. What were hearing is a manifestation of acute stress reaction that these kids are going through. These are kids that have suffered so much already, to arrive in our Justice System<\/a> for protection and to be torn out of the arms of their parents are leading to conditions such as these acute stress reactions were seeing that is very worrisome. So what acute stress does is it leads to regressive behavior, withdrawal, aggressiveness, bedwetting, things that all the milestones that they mastered are now getting reversed. Thats very concerning. It affects their learning and their development and growth. And we also know what this stress is doing, especially over a longer period of time, is leading to toxic stress. And toxic stresses release the exposure of those stress hormones that we know are the fight and flight hormones, that red alert hormones that can lead to longterm chronic problems like high blood pressure, like cancer, like learning disabilities. This is very disturbing, and really, to me as a pediatrician seems like governmentsanctioned child endangerment. Ill talk to you a little bit more about that, but i want the viewer to hear more. Jennifer, i want to play one moment. This moment stood out to me again. Watch this. [ children crying ] [ speaking spanish ] so that comment, jennifer, from the border agent extremely upsetting. What is this whistleblower telling you about how these children are being treated by officials . Theyre certainly not being understood and theyre being sort of jovial and joking around and trying to jolly the children who have just been torn away from their parents. And we have to remember that almost all of these people hurrying north, going through extreme dangers trying to get to the rio grande, extraordinary dangers, leaving everything behind, these people are refugees. Trump wants to talk about how these people are, in fact, criminals. But we have to remember that the cartels, they can buy any police officer, they can buy airplanes, they can buy boats. They dont need to send starving, terrorized families to try to run the river. So were punishing the victims here and sort of joking around with the kids as if it was no big deal. I find that infuriating. The other thing is dr. Shapiro mentioned the American Academy<\/a> of pediatrics said the same thing you did, the Trump Administration<\/a> separating families at the border is child abuse. I want to get zef zeleny who asked secretary nielsen that. Heres how she responded. Watch this. How is this not specifically child abuse for these innocent children who are indeed being separated from their parents . I want to be clear on a couple other things. The vast majority, vast, vast majority who are in the care of h its right now, 10,000 of the 12,000 were sent alone by their parents. Thats when they were separated. We now care for them, we have high standards, we give them meals, we give them education, we give them medical care. There is videos, there is tvs. I visited the Detention Centers<\/a> myself. That would be the answer to the question. What do you think of the response . Im incredulous, to be honest. I just cant believe how families fleeing for their lives can be blamed for what is happening and what our policy is. What can you tell us about the conditions, sandra . In the centers . Yeah. So the problem with these centers has been that the access to them is extremely limited, right . They are, you know, Big Box Stores<\/a> in some cases, walmarts in some cases that have been converted into holding facilities. And so inside of these box centers are kinds of kennels where, you know, men are kept in a couple of kennels, women are kept in another couple of kennels, unaccompanied children in another and then, you know, some of those unaccompanied children now are not really unaccompanied but theyve been torn away from their families. Thank you, all. Thank you, i appreciate it. Jennifer, thank you so much. I appreciate you coming on as well. Were going to talk we have a lot more to talk about, including i want to know why arent we seeing girls and pictures of girls . Is that deliberate . Because were only seeing guys, were only seeing men and very few adult women, but girls . Whats going on here . Some say theyre defending their policy at the outrage of the growing at the separation of children. This was played in the White House Briefing<\/a> room today as well. Two white house reporters, they will join me next. Behr presents ordinary versus overachiever. A lot of p but just one can behr through it all. Behr premium plus, a top rated interior paint at a great price. Family friendly, disaster proof. Find it exclusively at the home depot. Prepare for your demise, do your worst, doctor. I will. But first, a little presentation. Hijacking earths Geothermal Energy<\/a> supply. Phase 1. Choosing the right drill bit. As long as evil villains reveal their plans, you can count on geico saving folks money. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. The toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. If you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. Help stop the journey of gum disease. Try parodontax toothpaste. Introducing e trade personalized investments professionally managed portfolios customized to help meet your financial goals. Youll know what youre invested in and how its performing. So you can spend more Time Floating<\/a> about on your inflatable swan. [ding] captured lightning in a bottle. Over 260 years later as the nations leader in Energy Storage<\/a> were ensuring americans have the energy they need, whenever they need it nextera energy. The secretary of Homeland Security<\/a> security defending the Trump Administration<\/a>s immigration policy thats leading to undocumented families being separated at the southern border. This is happening as audit is released of children in Detention Centers<\/a> sobbing for their parents. I want to bring in april ryan a White House Correspondent<\/a> from American Urban Radio Networks<\/a> and executive editor of sentinel newspapers. Good evening to both of you. Happy to have you both on tonight. Tell us what is happening at the white house. The press briefing today was unbelievable. Thank you both. April, ill start with you. Before the briefing today reporters listened to the audit of children crying. What was it like when it played at the briefing today. Even before that, the president of the Correspondents Association<\/a> who is a bloomberg reporter, she played it. We were all listening to it. And then others started listening. This is before sarah or the secretary of Homeland Security<\/a> came out. And while the secretary of Homeland Security<\/a> was talking, olivia newsy, a reporter, started playing. She was way in the back of the room. We heard the children wailing. This is as the Homeland Security<\/a> head was talking. At issue, olivia newsy was saying, have you seen, have you heard this tape . So she never got a response so she started playing it. And she acknowledged it on twitter that she was the one way back in the back of the room. We could hear it all the way up front. You could actually hear it on the audio. You could see hogan, giggly, and sarah looking around to see who was playing it. Im still trying to figure out who played the darth vader march at one point in time too i didnt hear that. Some people had asked about that, it was up front. The scary thing is the reaction from this administration. They doubled down on them being victims themselves of being held hostage by democrats, and the logic that they employed was, were not holding these poor, innocent victims hostage, but if we dont get what we want, were going to continue the policy. So they are using them as leverage. They as much as admitted it. Don, i have to tell you, this is one issue ive covered for 35 years, and its frightening in its scope. Both parties have punted this issue for years. And when you think about the fact that this country you read the new colossus at the beginning. You think of the foundations of our republic and how were treating these people. These kids have to endure they start, they travel a month. These parents have nothing. They come to the border. They are sometimes kidnapped by the people who brought them over, they are robbed, they are beaten, they are sexually abused. Some of them end up dead. Ive seen them stack four or five high like cord wood in a 5x8 uhaul, suffocated to death. And then they come over here, were supposed to be the shining city on the hill, and the rest of their humanity is stripped of them and their children are taken from them. Is this who we are as a country . Its a question we have to ask. And there was a question asked about compassion, and this administration is more determined to enforce the law than to show compassion for the victims. These people arent gang members. These people are victims. Thats the thing, because i think theyre trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Exactly. Its not really the law, and weve already explained that. I had several people on last week who tried to say it was, now all of a sudden this week theyre admitting the Trump Administration<\/a> did change the policy because the facts are just not on their side. Its at their discretion. April, has anyone at the white house or with the administration tried to explain to you or anyone there why you cant have zero tolerance without separating parents from their kids . Well, you know, today i dont know what they were trying to say because it was back and forth. You know, the Homeland Security<\/a> secretary said one thing and sarah came back let me tell you what she said. Last night she tweeted, we do not have a policy separating families at the border, period. But it was in context. She was still defending the policy. Then today she defended the separations very publicly. Watch this, april, and ill let you finish your point. Heres the bottom line. Dhs is no longer ignoring the law. We are enforcing the laws as they exist on the books. As long as illegal Entry Remains<\/a> a criminal offense, dhs will not look the other way. At first shes like, that isnt our policy or whatever. Now shes all in, but go on. Heres the deal. From the very beginning this administration has said if you indeed illegally cross the border, youve committed a crime. This administration is saying they dont care if its man, woman, cat, dog, child, adult. Theyre going to look at it as a crime. Theyre trying to put teeth in this to set an example. But thats one of the reasons i ask the question about the pond issue. Are these kids being used as a pawn, because it is trying to fix the broken immigration system, immigration reform. And Homeland Security<\/a> had said, no, the kids arent being used as a pawn. But Sarah Huckabee<\/a> sanders says no, the kids arent being used as a pawn. They can secretary sanders said, oh, we want everything, its all or nothing, to include the wall. Its leverage, its political congressman, say one thing and do another, yet the president can change this policy. A briefing had been delayed, delayed, delayed three and a half hours. So how did they did they want her there . Was sara not willing to take the brunt of all this . I know a couple people told me back the guy at 25 minutes after that briefing supposed to start, im the guy that says where are you . And they say, if you tell me, youll tell somebody else. So the other guy. I think he wanted security to speak to it specifically because sarah had already tried to handle that and we saw how that ended up. And then then the Homeland Security<\/a> came up and she botched it as well. Those two to decide its a crime. They have a choice. You can treat it as a crime or a civil penalty. If you treat it as a civil penalty, then you dont elevate the children and the families. You let them go. They choose to prosecute as a criminal offense. That was made very clear. It was also made clear, and april asked the question and others followed up on it. It is a pawn, it is leverage. Those are things that came out today because sarah did not want to speak to that is the fact who did have to speak to it had to own up to it and take the heat for it. I think sarah is tired of taking the heat for it. I have to end this right now. Good luck over there at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. When we come back, all the republicans who are standing up to the president and telling him to stop his zero tolerance policy. And all the republicans who arent standing up. Thats next. Our dad was in the hospital. Because of smoking. But we still had to have a cigarette. Had to. But then, we were like. What are we doing . The nicodermcq patch helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Nicodermcq. You know why, we know how. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. I do. 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Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. There are growing calls tonight for the white house to abandon its policy of separating parents and children. I want to bring in ana navarro and i want to bring in republican strategist nick wilson and others. Mike, im going to start with you. The president wants a longterm fix to this problem. In the meantime, he could actually pick up the phone, put a stop to what were seeing. Why not do that . Why let the health and welfare of these children hang in the balance here . Well, i think a couple things. First is, look, they said theyre actually going to double down on this today. They said theyre going to push even more similar type of crackdowns and enforce the laws at the border. And i think its really telling that some of the pictures that came out were actually from dhs. So i think the white house wants this controversy. They are trying to force something to happen. Everything the president does is a negotiation. I think he Knows Congress<\/a> is debating immigration legislation right now. He has talked about when the government funding is up that he may not sign a funding bill until immigration is settled. So hes pushing, through all this controversy, to get to something. And look, i think when you hear the audio and the stuff you were playing before, we are ripping the bandaid off of a very ugly issue that we dont seem to want to talk about in this country which is how horrible our entire immigration system is and what horrible things are happening on the border. It is not nice to see whats happening with these children, but trust me, there are other horrible things worse than this happening to our children on the border every single day, and i hope the media will actually start digging into that a little bit and seeing how horrible the treatment of children that come with coyotes are and how the children being smuggled across the border are. This is with your life that still to be solved. Its terrible. All of it is terrible. But americans are not coyotes. The president should not be a coyote. But our policy is encouraging them. You should not be comparing the president of the United States<\/a>, the policy of the United States<\/a> to what coyotes do. But don, our policy is encouraging it. Just like we say that business the conversation before, we should crack down on businesses that are employing illegals. If you did that, they wouldnt have a reason to come here. Right, the government also creates a reason for them to come here. When we have catch and release, we are communicating with people that if you cross the border with a child, were not going to enforce the law as its written because its a policy decision, so therefore you should bring your child across the border because thats how you can come into the country. We created this atmosphere. They cant put those children in that situation. Also border crossings are down under this president. Hes doing a great job, doesnt kind of compute to me. I can explain that, too. Rick, he did just admit to the questions that the reporters were asking at the briefing today, are these children being used as political pawns . Hes right, there is reporting tonight that theyre going to ramp this up. They think its a winning issue for them come midterms. I think that the bannon faction of the trump party very much wants their base to be gemmed up on the fear of brown people crossing the border. Its one of their gotos. Its one of the defining characteristics of Donald Trumps<\/a> campaign which is for all of you economically anxious folks in the upper midwest, im going to stop the brown hoard of ms13 gangbangers from coming to your town. I dont think the president even has the majority of the republicans in the senate right now. There is a lot of nervousness right now. These guys especially that are on the border. John cornyn and ted cruz tonight are saying we have to pass something specifically to stop this particular practice. Donald trump isnt going to get this sweeping mega package that builds his dumb wall in the course of this just because hes holding these kids hostage, because this is blowing back on him quite hard right now. The country is twothirds to threequarters against this policy. He has the hypnotized part of his base locked in, but threequarters hate this with a redhot passion. But i think this is a disaster. I think the president knows it and i think hell flip around with his base. I know this is a passionate issue with you. Go on. You know, i think even that is changing. I think that began changing today. Today we have seen for the first time Republican Leaders<\/a> come out and start denouncing and condemning this policy. I dont know what the hell took them so long. Its a shame that its taken 2,000 kids being separated, but ill tell you what happened today that i think changed the narrative. Its the fact that we heard the kids voices, that we heard the cries, that we heard the pleas, that weve seen the image of the twoyearold. When those polls were taken showing that the country is 67, 66 against this policy, we had not heard the kids crying, wailing, begging for their mother and father. We had not seen the pictures, the heartbreaking pictures. Americas majority is a compassionate, compassionate family values country. And there is only so much of that thats going to happen. You think ted cruz is coming up with some sort of proposal for this . Because all of a sudden he woke up to it . No. This has been happening in his state for weeks and weeks and weeks. The reason people are waking up to it is because their constituents are demanding it. Constituents needs to not stop. Keep calling their offices, keep talk about this. Keeping innone dating their social media. Keep demanding action. Ive asked this question once. I just want to know why are we seeing specific images. They want these images to get out there. Were only seeing certain images. We dont see any young girls. Why is that . Does that speak to how theyre using kids as pawns . Well talk about that more when we get back. As the one who is always trapped beneath the duvet im begging you. Take gasx. Your tossing and turning isnt restlessness, its gas gasx relieves pressure, bloating and discomfort. Fast so we can all sleep easier tonight. Their eyelids so heavy, theyre drooping and. Even heroes need incredible sleep. Closing introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed. The only bed that actually senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. And snoring . Does your bed do that . Experience the new sleep number 360 smart bed today and unleash your incredible, only at a sleep number store. Disney pixars incredibles 2, now playing at the Marine Mammal<\/a> center, the environment is everything. We want to do our very best for each and every animal, and we want to operate a sustainable facility. And pg e has been a partner helping us to achieve that. Weve helped the Marine Mammal<\/a> center go solar, install electric vehicle charging stations, and become more energy efficient. Pg e has allowed us to be the most Sustainable Organization<\/a> we can be. Any time you help a customer, its a really good feeling. Its especially so when its a customer thats doing such good and important work for the environment. Together, were building a better california. White House Holding<\/a> its ground tonight. Why is the government only releasing images of the boys being held . Where are the girls and young told lers. I dont know. Im not familiar with those particular zblijz diane where they are . We have children in dhs care both, but most of the children after 72 hours are transferred to hhs. Your department, they have been aired all over National Television<\/a> throughout the day that kids were being held in the cages. Weve only seen the boys. Ill look into that. Im not aware of another picture. They scrambled her to be there. Shouldnt she know this stuff if theyre going to put her there in front of the podium and shes the secretary . Why are we seeing a disproportional number of boys . Are they afraid these guys are going to grow up and be ms13 gang members . There have to be little girls there. I dont know the answer to that and the media is certainly covering, and i tell you, telling everyone there are children and girls there. My guess is there will be images of girls and other children regardless of what is put out. I cant speak to why they did that. But, look, youre going to have two forces running into each other here. You have one force president obama a vexing issue have been said. He said lets stop doing this and let them in because thats the only alternative. It was only when the parent was in question. It wasnt done in this way as vastly as this way. Thats not my point. Im not comparing that specific point. Let me just give you, if they are equal, they are not, two wrongs dont make a right. And obama is not the president anymore. Thats not what im saying. Theres two things going to run auto into each other. One is weve already seen this is politically different. This is why deportations will not work because of the outcry over this. You had a similar outcry over a somewhat different thing that happened under obama and he stopped it. Do you have to go to the extreme because its difficult . Go on. Ill make this very quick. The president ran on enforcing the border. It wasnt a secret spoil of his. He ran against Hillary Clinton<\/a> who had an opposite policy, he won. This is something hes doing exactly what he said he was going to do, which is enforce the rules, the law at the border. To be a jerk, to be an ass. Im trying to give you objective analysis. Thats not even a partisan thing to say. Those two things are going to run into each other before we get to the end. Basically he ran on being a jerk. Its propaganda but were turning this into crushing the president again. Hes the one that can change this. He is the one, with all due respect, mike, out there saying that this is a democrats law. First of all, its not the democrats law. Republicans control both chambers and the white house. So hes flatly just boldfaced lying about this particular issue thats not even a policy. Its how theyre choosing to go about doing this. So he is lying. And then people come to the podium and they lie. People come on television and they lie. And then they try to spin it saying its helping these children, that its somehow helping these families, which it is not. I got to let the other guys talk. Go ahead, rick. I think there are two very important things to focus on here. The first is this is a president who we have been told over and over again has virtually unlimited executive power. Hes done executive orders and policy changes on everything under the sun. And suddenly theyre impotent and helpless on this one thing. He could send commands to dhs in a hot minute and tell them to change this. They could issue an executive order and change this. Whos going to sue them over it . No one, thats who. And they could do all these things right now. This is a completely policy of deliberate cruelty. This is a policy of deliberate political strategic manipulation, and its back firing them badly right now and it puts the hilie of executive orders, he wants to get away with something. Now hes feeling a tremendous amount of political pressure on something hes engaging in a policy this is a president who specializes in both grand and petty cruelties to people. And this is one thats of such a grand scale and such an obvious scale, its washing away a lot of the politics behind it, the law under it. What really is starting to matter to average americans, theyre seeing these images of these children and hearing these crying childrens voices, theyre not going to play the game of fox news can say all day long this is about obama or this is about some other policy. I was a critic of obama on a lot of his immigration policies, but i never noticed barack obama had a bunch of giggling idiots around him reveling in how cruel their [ bleep ] policies were. Ana, ill give you the last word. I dont know what to say. I really am almost speechless at the cynicism, the callousness, the sheer lies coming out of this white house on this. On the one hand, youve got a president who tells you, oh, just how terrible, terrible terrible and heartbreaking this policy is, which he knows that he can change in one minute but is trying to blame democrats for. You have democrats in congress and the senate, dianne feinstein. Lets assume that president loco is right and it takes an act of congress. Well, republicans are in charge of the house and senate and the white house. It would take donald trump calling paul ryan and it would be turned into law. It could happen right now if he did it. He could do it. Its a oneparagraph bill. And he could do it through legislation if he wanted to. The bottom line is he wants to continue this horrible cruelty. If you can give me something in ten seconds, ill give you the last word. You should say dam it dam it dam it, that would take up the ten seconds. Hows that . That sums it up. I can teach you to do it in spanish. Up next, breaking news about north korea. President trump said he was going to reach out to officials there. We have the latest on what happened. Behr presents ordinary versus overachiever. A lot of paints say they can do the job, but just one can behr through it all. Behr premium plus, a top rated interior paint at a great price. Family friendly, disaster proof. Find it exclusively at the home depot. Janice, mom told me you bought a house. Okay. [ buttons clicking ] [ camera shutter clicks ] so, now that you have a house, you can use homequote explorer. Quiet. Im blasting my quads. Janice, look. Im in a meeting. Janice, look. [ chuckles ] look, look. Im looking. Its easy. You just answer some simple questions online, and you get Coverage Options<\/a> to choose from. Youre ruining my workout. Cycling is my passion. Youre ruining my workout. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, Little Things<\/a> can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Tonight were learning there was no call from the u. S. To north korean officials this weekend. That word from administration officials. Hello to both of you on this quite depressing monday for me. Sorry. This thing at the border has really gotten to me. Its really ridiculous. Lets talk about north korea. Today the white house tells cnn no such call, took place. They didnt give a reason why. Whats the president going to do . Negotiate details . Look at the issues that have to come up in the future over the next couple of years. The details of secretary mike pompeo is going to have to deal with. What facility is going to be inspected, what documentation do they anticipate receiving. Who is going to comprise the inspection team. What indicates the north koreans are complying . How many missiles are they destroying . Do you think the president is going to talk to the north koreans about how to do details . He showed up, had a cup of coffee and now mike pompeo has to work out the details. The president doesnt have a conversation. Its like me growing a man bun, its not going to happen. I needed that. Kim jong un is going to china tomorrow and wednesday. Did the president get any more than a shortterm boost from this photoop and will he see any real results . Probably not. I think it does relate to the story earlier. America is broken. And that has National Security<\/a> consequences. Instead of other countries talking about our strengths or our smarts or our economy or even our morality, which was not brought you by donald trump. The fact that the north koreans are meeting with the chinese should not be a surprise to us because in the end the chinese won full stop based on our north korea policy. They got what they wanted. They got us out of some. Exercises in the peninsula and got the world wary of the United States<\/a>, which in the end only benefits china and to a lesser extent russia. I want to turn to the congressional hearing on the Inspector General<\/a>s report. It broke down along political lines pretty quickly. This is senator from louisiana. General, do you believe in the tooth fairy . Nope. Do you believe in the easter bunny . Nope. Do you believe that jimmy hoffa died of Natural Causes<\/a> . Not based on what ive read. Do you honestly believe that the American People<\/a> are going to look at this report and look at those emails and not believe that there was bias and people acting on bias and that the fix was in at the fbi . So, phil, the accusations i know, its ridiculous. I believe in the easter bunny, by the way, so keep going. Its not going to go away but its just so ridiculous. I see this stuff every day and i think these are the people who are running our country. I want to run for Office Sometimes<\/a> when i see this absolute ridiculousness. Despite the conclusions from this report, they didnt ultimately affect the investigation and its conclusions, what was going on . I was the subject of many investigations at the fbi, i witnessed for the Inspector General<\/a>. Any time they walk in the room, if they see flowers, theyre not going to say life is good, theyre going to say wheres the funeral . The Inspector General<\/a> is not a good news story. They say we did a hundred plus interviews, a millionplus pages, we found that people did the wrong thing but we did not find evidence. What are you supposed to say . They did the investigation, the congress didnt. Ten seconds, juliette. Up against the clock. I think it was stalemate at the hearing. I think the only take away we should be washing is horowitzs could i answer as to whether there was a continuing investigation about the new york Fbi Department<\/a> and contacts with giuliani or others that may have set some of the tone that got comey to move forward. I thought that answer was very telling. Unclear whether hes investigating it or more significantly for giuliani, whether theres a criminal investigation going on and the i. G. Is deferring to it. To me thats the headline. Coming up, the president says he is not to blame for thousands of children being separated from their parents at the border. But the truth is his party is on the record for the exact policy. We have the receipts next. I am totally blind. And non24 can make me show up too early. Or too late. Or make me feel like im not really there. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442342424. This is a story about mail and packages. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams theyre handing us more than mail theyre handing us their business and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States<\/a> postal service. Priority you we just switched to geico and got more. More . Theyve been saving folks money for over 75 years. A company you can trust. Geico even helped us with homeowners insurance. More sounds great. Gotta love more. Right, honey . Yeah geico. 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And im an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 Million Trees<\/a> have died in california. Pg e prunes and removes over a Million Trees<\/a> every year to ensure that hazardous trees cant impact power lines. And since the onset of the drought weve doubled our efforts. I grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly its heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. What guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801008.us.archive.org\/17\/items\/CNNW_20180619_060000_CNN_Tonight_With_Don_Lemon\/CNNW_20180619_060000_CNN_Tonight_With_Don_Lemon.thumbs\/CNNW_20180619_060000_CNN_Tonight_With_Don_Lemon_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240617T12:35:10+00:00"}