Chris California Attorney general javier becerra, a son of mexican immigrants, calls on congress to protect the dreamers as a federal judge blocked the administrations rollback of daca. Its a Fox News Sunday exclusive. Plus, the president imposes new sanctions on iran but decides not to blow up the nuclear deal for now. If we will ask our sunday panel what happens next in u. S. Relations with iran. And our power player of the week. Which is tougher, politics or football . I was born to play football. Chris how an nfl star wound up working for the speaker of the house. All right now on Fox News Sunday. And hello again from fox news in washington. On this Martin Luther king holiday weekend, the Nations Capital is still reeling from President Trumps incendiary remarks about immigrants from africa and haiti. His comments have reignited the debate of whether the president is a racist, they have also derailed progress on a bipartisan deal on immigration, a setback that could lead to a Government Shutdown midnight friday. Joining me now for an exclusive interview, the new secretary of lament security, kiersten nielsen. Welcome to Fox News Sunday. Secretary nielsen thank you, my pleasure. Chris before we get to immigration, lets discuss that false alarm in hawaii yesterday. Just after 8 00 yesterday morning people across the state got this alert. Ballistic missile threat inbound to hawaii, seek immediate shelter, this is not a drill. People were understandably terrified for 38 minutes before they got the all clear. It turns out it was a state official who hit the wrong button, but as the head of federal dhs, what have you learned about the state of Emergency Preparedness in that state and across the country . Secretary nielsen i think this is a very important topic and i just want to encourage everyone first and foremost not to draw the wrong conclusion. I would hate for anybody not to abide by alert warnings coming from government systems. They can trust government systems, we test them every day. If this is a very unfortunate mistake, but these are vital, seconds and minutes can save lives. I would encourage people not to draw the wrong conclusions. Secondly, from a dhs perspective we are looking with state and locals to ensure not only that the messaging is clear, but what to do next is clear as well, how we can best support them and work with them. As you know, they are on the first lines and they are the first responders. Unfortunate situation, but we are all working together to make sure it doesnt happen again. Chris this raises questions not only about emergency alerts, and as you say generally we can trust him. It also raises questions about civil defense. I remember as a kid in the 50s, under Public School desk and repair for the nuclear attack. When looking back on it its laughable. If we dont have bomb shelters today, we did not have that kind of civil defense. If god forbid were a real attack, if the North Koreans or somebody else had fired a missile over the horizon at an american city, what should folks on the ground do . Secretary nielsen its a good question. Of course it depends on where you are and what the particular type of threat is. In this case citizens who are in that could be affected, look at any guidance that comes from the government. Fema has a whole variety of measures and prepared thinks they can do. Sometimes its shelter in place. If you saw in hawaii, if you are in a car they asked you to get out of the car and lay flat on the ground. It just depends, but the government has provided tremendous amounts of information we could all seek it out and make sure we know what we need to do as citizens. Chris is it true that the Trump Administration has not conducted a full scale exercise to plan for this kind of an event, and if so, how soon are you going to order a full scale exercise among all the principles and the government . Secretary nielsen when we look at response we all act under something called the National Response framework. We test that very frequently. We use different scenarios. We did have whats called a deputies committee, thats the deputy secretaries of the department, exercised in december specific to the threat and we had already planned to have that principle early next month. We will continue on that. The National Exercise program is very rebalanced, as well as it should be. We need to provide action after a real event and of course prepare for events unfortunately might befall us. Chris lets turn to that meeting at the president held with a half dozen members of congress on thursday. They were discussing immigration from africa and according to democratic senator dick durbin the president said this. These vile and vulgar comments the nations that come from [bleep]. Exact words used by the president , not just once, but repeatedly. Chris you were in that meeting in the oval office comforted the the president say that . Secretary nielsen i dont recall him saying that exact phrase. I think he has been clear and i would certainly say undoubtedly the president will use, continue to use Strong Language when it comes to this issue. Hes very passionate about it. I think what was frustrating about that meeting for all of us in the meeting was that although the deal presented in theory and approach to the four pillars upon which we had agreed, did not address the core Security Issues that we need to do our job. And more importantly theres nothing in there that would prevent us from getting here again. Not interested in half measures. We dont want additional temporary populations here. Its unfair to them, its unfair to american citizens and it certainly raises security risks. Chris im just going to press back on you once on the subject. It seems to me you were in the meeting when these comments were made. I can understand you either saying they were sad or they were not said. It is pretty shocking language and to say i dont recall seems impossible. If the president of the United States use the word blank whole talking about countries in the oval office or didnt say it, i would know. Secretary nielsen i understand the question. It was an impassioned conversation. I dont recall that specific phrase being used, thats all i can say about that. Chris there are several things about the president s comments, alleged comments, and are both republicans and democrats who confirm that he sent it. One is the president seems to be writing off people who come from black countries, while he saying we should take people coming from one of the widest countries on earth, norway. Here was a comment from an official at the u. N. Commission on human rights. Im sorry but theres no other word one can use but racist. You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as of [bleep], whose entire populations are not white, therefore not welcome. Chris isnt that the definition of racism, to say we dont want people from these black countries, but we do want people from a very white country . Secretary nielsen i think with the president is saying is he would like to move to merit based, based an individual. Whether individuals can come here and contribute to our society, help our economy and assimilating communities and help america be better. I take a little bit of offense to the comments and suggestions that the president is racist. Hes looking at the meritbased system they have in australia and canada. Im sure that we are not, any of us, suggesting that australia and their canada leaders are but racist. Chris the president seems to be equating merit to the countries that people come from. He seems to be suggesting you would rather have a janitor from norway than a doctor from haiti. Secretary nielsen i disagree. Chris what would merritt have to do with the country . Why would it have to do with your qualifications . Secretary nielsen i think it does. I think what hes trying to do is move away from a quota based system, whether its a quota of underrepresented countries or a quota of norway for example. I think what hes trying to say we need to look at the individual and ensure that we look at those who can bring merit to our country. Chris lets turn to the practical implication of that because the big question in washington now is chances for a deal on daca. The president tweeted out this morning, and lets put it up on the screen. Daca is probably dead because the democrats dont really want it, they just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our military. One, is daca dead . Is there a chance for it . And is the president willing to see the Government Shutdown if democrats insist on linking a daca deal to funding for the government before it runs out of money midnight on friday . Secretary nielsen i do not believe daca is dead, but what i would say is for my perspective of course as the secretary of Homeland Security, its not a daca deal. Its a security immigration deal. What my role this is to ensure that we dont end up here again. We must close these loopholes to ensure that these temporary populations not only are not encouraged to take the dangerous journey to get there, but then when they get there we are weibel, able to properly remove them so we dont end up with the category of daca again. In terms of the funding what i would say is in my opinion where i sit its completely responsible to tie the two together. We need to fund our troops, we need to protect them, we need to increase Homeland Security. These are Vital National security interest we need to fund. To tie it into a daca deal or the actual Expiration Date is in march as a responsible. Chris if the government shuts down, thats on democrats . Secretary nielsen it would be very unfortunate if they continue to do that. They are not the same conversation. You heard Democratic Leaders say just that in the past. Chris one more daca question. A federal judge this week blocked the Administration Decision to phase out daca and wrote lets put this on the screen. A plausible inference that racial animus towards mexicans and latinos was a motivating factor in the decision to daca. Your reaction to that and how quickly will the administration appeal that judges decision blocking the phasing out of daca . Secretary nielsen on the appeal i would refer to the attorney general. I find that offensive on its face. I took an oath when i became secretary of Homeland Security to defend and support the constitution. The program was unconstitutional. What we should be focused on instead of these Court Interventions in these distractions is that we need a permanent solution. We have said that, i have said that, the president has said that. We want to find a permanent solution to the daca population, not a continual three year when youll period. Chris in the short period of time we have left i went to ask you about some of the issues that are facing your department. Border apprehensions are down 40 in 2017, which some Administration Officials are called the trump effect. But in december there was a significant increase as the Border Patrol caught more than 40,000 people attempting illegal crossings. Why has it gone back up . Secretary nielsen its a great question and i appreciate you asking because i think its very important for the viewers to understand this. The problem is that we have so many loopholes within our legal system based on a panoply of court decisions, confusion with respect to the law and how we can enforce them that if you are in the south or central america, those who would wish to smuggle you are able to tell you if you get to america you can stay. More and more are willing to undertake the journey because there is no way for me to promptly remove them. If we talk about the wall. The wall is a very, very important part of this. It works, but it only gets us partway there because if i can stop them at the border but i cant remove them, thats not Border Security. They will continue to come. Chris what some people are saying is the reason its going back up is because for all the tough talk from the president , people in central america, smugglers and people wanting to come across, finally decided the system really hasnt changed. Secretary nielsen the system is worse every time a court makes a patchwork decision on one individual continues to exasperate exacerbate the system. They cannot remove or apprehend whether they are criminals in some cases or whether there are multiple repeat illegal entry. We have to change these loopholes so that we can promptly remove them. Chris finally this week federal agents waited 98 7eleven stores in 17 states in the district of columbia resulting in 21 arrests. If will you order more raids on employers in this country, and with the message youre trying to send . Secretary nielsen yes, and the message were trying to send is if you consistently and willfully disregard the laws that the congress and the American People have passed, and you will be held accountable. These are not accidental hiring as illegal immigrants. Some of these countries unfortunately have continually and systematically tried to get around the system. Hire illegal aliens, which affects the ability of the American Workers, but it also continues to encourage those who might not otherwise take the journey to take the journey. We are looking to try and stop this bad behavior and hold employers accountable. Chris secretary nielsen, thank you. Secretary nielsen my pleasure. Chris thanks for coming into this holiday weekend, please come back. Secretary nielsen i would love to. Thank you so much. Chris up next reaction from javier becerra, californias attorney general. Has filed several lawsuits against the Trump Administration on immigration. And just won a temporary reprieve for the dreamers. Thats next. Okay, i picked out my dream car. Nows the really fun part. Choosing the color, the wheels, the interior, everything exactly how i want it. Heres the thing just because i configured this car online doesnt mean it really exists at a dealership, but with truecar, i get real pricing on actual cars in my area. I see what others paid for them, and they show me the ones that match the car i want, so i know i can go to a truecarcertified dealer and itll be right there waiting for me. Today, right now. This is truecar. Chris just before President Trumps tracking comments this week about immigrants from africa and haiti, a federal judge in california blocked his move to end daca. Joining me now from sacramento, xavier becerra, attorney general of california and a former Democratic Congressional leaders who filed that lawsuit. Mr. Attorney general, you just heard secretary nielsen. What is your reaction to her defense of the president s position in that meeting one senator durbin and others this week . A. G. Becerra chris, i dont know if its defensible, and its disturbing to see so many people with such shortterm memory losses and the inability to recall a conversation, important conversation that has taken place just a few days ago. Can you imagine what happens when you have a conversation about nuclear war or what we do about natural disasters and you have a room of people who cant remember what was said just a few days ago . Thats dangerous. Chris do you think President Trump is a racist . A. G. Becerra in every respect that he is showing us is that he has a racist. Let me put it to you this way. Mental instability, mendacity, no bigotry. Having any one of those is the white house is dangerous. Having the combination . Thats lethal. Chris what about the argument beyond the words, i understand the words are hard to get beyond. If this question of merit based immigration what about the argument that too many of our immigration programs, family unification, or as its also called chain migration, visa lotteries, do more to help people from other countries than they do to attract and to bring in people to this country who can best help us . A. G. Becerra i can only speak to you, chris, from the perspective of a son of two of those immigrants. If i can simply tell you that with a man who had a chance to go to the sixth grade, a mother who didnt get past 18 years of age when she finally got here, both of them never having had a chance to step on a college campus. They did a great job of getting four kids a College Education or military service and a man who couldnt walk into a restaurant when he was young because of the sign that said no dogs or mexicans allowed, because of his children had a chance to walk into the white house to meet the president of the United States. Not this one, but the president of the United States. In every respect, my dad, a proverbial ditch digger, built this country and now the results are that his grandkids are going to some of the finest colleges and universities and they are not going on any taxpayers time because their parents can afford to have them go. My mom when it came to finances was always an they live in retirement than they ever lived when they were both working. Those are two examples of immigrants who came to this country with little and gave so much. Chris lets talk about the situation here in washington right now because democrats are threatening to shut down the government, to refuse to vote for another funding bill when the government runs out of money at midnight friday if they dont get a deal on daca. This seems to directly contradict Something Senate democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a few years ago when the republicans were threatening president obama, take a look. We believe strongly in immigration reform. W