Putting aside the fact the bible is under our constitution, not the framework to resolve these issues, which the Attorney General knows even if the white house spokesperson does not know that. Lets look at what else we have here. Jeff sessions dismissing all of these concerns from experts and families by saying these Migrant Children who were ripped from their parents arms are well cared for. This is hhs, health and human servic services. Something entirely different from the criminal Justice System that they care for these children in a. Proper way. They are providing food and education in their native language, health and dental care. We transport them where they want the to go while they are in the country. That is the representation of the Trump Administration about what they are doing. Et we show you that so you can see their version of events. What we are seeing, though, on the ground is very different. Heres whats happening inside the casa shelter in texas. Children sleeping in dormstyle
rooms, very little personal space, five to a room. These are built to house four. Each wearing bracelets to identify themselves and they are scanned as they get their food from the cafeteria. Jacob soboroff Got An Inside Look where children are locked inside for up to 22 hours a day, a Shelter Employee telling reporters to smile at the children because they, quote, feel like animals in a cage being looked at. Theres pushback. Some in both parties. Democrats are saying these are atrocities and chastising this policy, which is policy in america today, as unamerican. Separating children from parents, denying relief to victims of brutal dmes account violence is not going to make our country better. Thats unamerican. I cant think of anything more cruel, more inhuman. Its psychological torture. Its apouling. Its wrok regardless of circumstances to take children away from their mothers and fathers. This is barbaric. This is thot what america is. Im joined for a special discussion on this. And Alisa Menendez is joining us. Thank you all. Congressman, i begin with you. Is this a humanitarian crisis caused by the u. S. Government . Theres no question about it. These Asylum Seekers, we are prosecuting people that are fleeing from violence, in some cases from natural disasters, from adverse conditions. Were treating them as criminals. Not only that, but were stripping their children away from them. How unholy is that. This amounts to child abuse, most experts understand and know that when a child is brutally or forcefully separated from his or her mother, they are traumatized in shortterm or longterm. So this amounts to child abuse and the government is perpetrating that kind of behavior. I havent seen anything like this and the whole world is watching. It even caught the attention of the united nations. The Human Rights Unit there has asked the Trump Administration to halt this practice. Congressman, take a listen to what speaker ryan said today. Are you comfortable with the current Zero Tolerance policy leading to parents and children being separated at the border . No, im not. We dont want kids separated tr their parents. If speaker ryan doesnt. Want this outcome, is is he doing Everything Possible to prevent it . Absolutely not. They are back pedaling. The children are being held in jailtype holding facilities
that restrict their movement for 22 hours a day. Allowing them only to go into the courtyard for one hour. They are restricted hours. They are under heavy surveillance. This is clearly a jailtiype situation for children. As they are 11 years old. These are children. Whats happening to Americas Soul . Let me play another claim by the Attorney General on how typical this is. Take a listen. Our policies that can result in shortterm separation of families is not unusual or unjustified. Its really a very short period of time. Normally the adults are only held in custody for a week or two or tleehree. Not unusual. Not unjustified is the claim. Your response . Sorry i was going toto jorge. Those mothers have been held for over a month now in some areas. They are waiting for the preliminary step of getting credible interview, which should happen in the first week they are detained, but hasnt happened yet. And they have been separated for a long time. I think this is highly unusual that we have had Asylum Speakers separated from their children and held for an extended period oftime. And again, these are questions as part of my job to ask. So ill just ask. Does your knowledge and expertise on this suggest that this is traumatizing and abusive to the children when they are separated from their parents this way . Ab chutely. Its traumatizing on both ends. I can tell you i have personally talked to four mothers of children ages 6, 11, 9 and 15 and for them the question that they kept asking me when i interviewed them was when am i going to be reyunified with my children. They had heard through a relative and whats the answer to that . The answer to that is i dont know. Honestly, we dont know how long its going to be because they havent had the preliminary interview that are necessary for them to move on to the alsylum process. Were trying to figure out if they can be released as soon as possible, but the reality is they could be here for extended periods of time. One of the things that Policy Analysts are quick to point out are that children are very young. In some cases they dont speak english. Some of them dont have language skills. So the level of trauma is hard
to assess. Youre framing this as a humanitarian crisis. But we also have to be honest about whats happening in the Central American countries that is droifing these immigrants over the border and forcing someone to make the choice to take their child and risk this type of treatment. I was in el salvador. Youre sending their child with the risk you may never see them again. They may be taken advantage of. The mother said what other choice do i have . And that is a big part of the reason were having this conversation today. Congressman . The republican really want the to keep Families Together and dont want to split the families apart for months. They will have an opportunity to do that. Next week well be introducing legislation to treat Asylum Seekers in a dampifferent way. These are folks that are fleeing from adverse conditions. To ewe night families and keep
them together while they are at the border or cross to the United States. This will be a major piece of legislation that would give the republicans the opportunity to be on the right side of history and to once again feel holy within themselves. I want everyone to stay with me as we bring in another special experten this with some historical context. The Trump Administration was announcing the border town in texas will be the first site of the tent city. 450 children there housed in the outdoor tents. An area where the temperature can reach the high 90s. I want to show you a child therapist, professor at California State University who was actually born in a Japanese Internment Camp On American Soil During World War Ii and produced a documentary and has treated immigrant families held by authorities in had similar situations. Doctor, whats on your mind . What can you educate us about all this . Im gravely concerned about these children. They were traumatized at home and the mothers that i interviewed described the limited choices they had where threats to their well being meant they are going to be separated from children at home. The gangs threatened to take the boys to be a part of the gang tuft and threatened to take the daughters to be part of the sex trafficking industry us. The one mother i us spoke to said that she felt that if she wanted to stay with her children, she needed to leave the country. And so she attempted this journey to come to the United States and was told by the person that brought her across, when she came to the border to say the word asylum and they
would be taken care of. But instead these women that i interviewed at the Detention Center in south texas were handcuffed and put in temporary detention on a cement floor overnight until they were transferred to the prison. So these mothers sacrificed everything they had so the children could stay us with them. So to find that now the children are being separated from the mothers is just unbelievably inhuman. When you hear Trump AdministrationOfficials Say their goal is to treat these families this way, to deter other Asylum Seekers, whats your response . Thats a cruel and horrible punishment thats being inflicted on the children. They are punishing the children in order to send a message back
home so others wont seek asylum. And these are innocent victims of a horrible trauma that will last with them r for a lifetime. Stay with me. I want to ask about how this is playing out because these are decisions coming out of washington. Theres a ton of hyperbole and distraction. And yet its the actual facts of what were hearing from the families and from people who have come up close and observed members of congress. That give us a feel fooeling of what happened. Take a listen. Youre a parent. Dont you have any empathy for what these people are going through . They have less than you do. Youre a parent. Youre a parent of young children. Dont you have any empathy for what they us go through . Its in the bible its not what i said. I know its hard for you to
understand. Even short sentences, i guess, dont take my words out of context, but the separation of its tense there and can look like the normal drama, but that drama in the room is about the moral center of what this administration is doing. Theres a moral center and already because of the policies the conversation has shifted so far to the right. So you have the Zero Tolerance policy, which means you have all these children over taxing the system. Theres conversations about tent cities. About children sleeping in tents so we can have a place to house them. Which makes family Detention Centers, which were once somewhere in the middle of this conversation suddenly seem like a leftist alternative. Tent cities is what the Trump Madministration is calling it. There are critics calling them camps. They have effectively shifted the conversation to the right. Such that you used to have Congressional Democrats hit iti the Obama Administration over the use of Family Detention Facilities and now in the new world order, Family Detention Facilities seem like a better option. Thank you to each of you. Were going to stay on the story. Theres lots of other big stories including a new suit by the top Law Enforcement official of new york against donald trump alleging he ran his charity for personal benefit. Were going to speak to the candidate to fill that post in new york. And what Michael Cohens predecessor is has Donald Trumps chief lawyer is telling me about whether cohen may flip. I want to get into that tonight. Also im going to break down something you may have heard about. Its finally out. The doj report on james comey, and yes, the clinton probe. Youre watching the beat on msnbc. And at expedia, we dont think you should be rushed into booking one. Thats why we created expedias addon advantage. Now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. Addon advantage. Discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. Only when you book with expedia. New beer that pairs with our bold flavors. Like the ones in this steak. Or this steak. This one, too. Looks like youll want another bloomin blonde. Now on tap at outback. Outback steakhouse. Aussie rules. Im a tin can tied to your bumper, cause. I dont think enough people heard about your big day. But nothing says We Got Married like a 12 ounce piece of scrap metal. Yo We Got Married honk if you like joint assets. Now youre so busy soaking up all this attention, you dont see the car in front of you. And if i can crash your perfect day, imagine what i can do to the rest of em. So get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem. Like me. Pepsoriasis does that. It was tough getting out there on stage. I wanted to be clear. I wanted it to last. So i kept on fighting. I found something that worked. And keeps on working. Now . They see me. See me. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have
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standard. Lets look at it like this. Elliot is is it a strong case . And does it make donald trump look cheap, broke or just poor judgment. Or all of the above. After watching your last setting isment on immigration, im surprised that someone is not going to come out and say give to god what is god is caesar. Because ultimately we are normalizing conduct by the president that involves unfair dealing. Its hard to assess whether its a good case now. What we know is theres actionable evidence of Campaign First base violations that frank ly now are par for the course. Were getting used to lawsuits being brought against the president for all kinds of unfair conduct. So the question we need to be asking is why does this keep happening and why are we almost getting immune to it or numb to it. We knew about it to be polite business past here in san francisco. He was from new york and involved in the real estate business. It was an open secret. It was an openly known fact that you couldnt do business with donald trump. You didnt want to be in deals with donald trump and use of the foundation for personal gain or vanity. Dont you have a portrait of yourself paid for by nbc and your office. It may be worlt 10,000. Its just a selfie with a really good filter. Obviously these things should be investigated. I come back to mueller that if trumps presidency is going to be affected it will be because of a conspiracy during the campaign or Obstruction Of Justice as president. Things his was not a spotless
business career to say the le t least. Once elected, people should follow the law and investigate things, but im not sure much of that makes a big difference. Youre running for this exact office. Your take on the case today . I think this is a big deal. The lawsuit is really well written. Its incredibly clear. The facts are shocking and show a pattern of illegal behavior for over 20 years by the Trump Foundation. Its an abuse of the charity, the structure of charities we have in this country. We allow for charities, give them tax exempt status and a special role in our society because we want to encourage people to give money for education or the arts or to take care of those who are less well off. And instead we have the Trump Foundation, which has Board Of Directors that never meet. Are not engaged in any decisions
and instead donald trump uchooss to use Foundation Funds for his campaign. So lets look at it this way. If thats true, Thats Bad Behavior by trump. But if thats true, it also suggesting that New York State, which has been run by many Democratic Office holders, never dealt with this while he was a very famous resident with a big charity. You could imagine some people thinking is this political or only because hes president now . I want to really credit Barbara Underwood, our Attorney General who stepped in after Eric Sniderman resigned. If youre right that this i