deport your way to the negotiating table and succeed with mitch mcconnell in these right-wing republicans. it doesn't matter how many people you deport, how cruel you are, it's never going to be enough for them. so we need to not be afraid of presenting our own bold alternative and positive vision for how we would handle immigration policy. that's what i've done. but the vice president has not. and third, and this was part of the conversation yesterday, and this is just one part of my plan, we need to understand that no future administration should have the tool in law, section 1325 of the immigration nationality act, to be able to do what donald trump has done and incarcerate migrant parents and separate them from their little children using this law. so we can still have consequences, it would still be legal for somebody to come across the border and they would go into a court process, but this law, this tool that has allowed trump to do this, would be gone. >> so would it be a mistake -- was it a mistake -- let's go back a little bit, was it a mistake for president obama to

majority leader mitch mcconnell to reconvene the senate for a vote on stalled gun legislation, they argue to prevent the next shooting. a step sources say he's unlikely to take. the president is also facing some criticism after misstating the location of the ohio massacre. >> may god bless the memory of those who perished in toledo and may god protect them. >> reporter: that city is 150 miles north of dayton, ohio. where at least nine people were murdered and dozens injured. it is a mistake democratic presidential candidate joe biden also made. who was forced to correct himself after referring to the tragic events in houston and michigan. the question now is what happens next? trump has called for gun restrictions in the past -- >> i think it is something you have to think about. >> reporter: but later backed off of after sitting down with nra leadership. now, wolf, former barack obama has issued a very pointed statement calling on the country to, quote, soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racis

put this at the foot of mitch mcconnell where two bills that passed with many, many votes sitting on his steps in the senate, he needs to act on them and the president needs to make him act on those. >> so far he's refused to allow those house-passed measures to come up for a vote in the senate. former president obama put out a rare statement today. let me read a portion of the statement. we'll put it on the screen. we should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear or hatred. leaders who demonize those who don't look like us or suggest other people including immigrants threaten our way of life or refer to other people as subhuman or imply that america belongs to just one certain type of people. clearly it seems to me, and i wonder if you agree, he seems to be referring to the president of the united states even though he didn't mention any names. >> that's what a president acts like, wolf. that's how a president writes, how a president elevates the conversation. i have been saying now for two days that the most important job

motivated. >> reporter: democrats are calling on senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to bring lawmakers back to washington to vote on new gun-control measures. after protesters gathered outside of his home this week. >> i don't know what he's waiting for and i don't know what republicans in the senate are waiting for. they should be calling on mitch mcconnell to bring the senate back to vote on this legislation today. >> reporter: the white house officials say the president was meeting with aides to prepare for tomorrow's trip to ohio and texas, looking at a wide range of policies potentially aimed at preventing mass shootings but we talked to a republican source a short while ago who said the white house sent out talking points to surrogates earlier today that mainly touted the president's actions on guns in the past and there is no indication there is a groundswell of support in the white house for new gun-control measures in the aftermath of the shootings. >> jim acosta at the white house. >>> now the public information officer for the el paso police department, sergeant ro

supremacist motivated. >> reporter: democrats are calling on mitch mcconnell to bring lawmakers back to washington to vote on new gun control measures after protesters gathered outside his home this week. >> i don't know what he's waiting for. and i don't know what republicans in the senate are waiting for. they should be calling on mitch mcconnell to bring the senate back to vote on this legislation today. >> reporter: getting back to those elected leaders who don't want the president to come to their communities. democratic congressman from el paso, texas, said she was invited to join the president for his trip to el paso tomorrow. she has declined that invitation, wolf. the president was in meetings with aides preparing for tomorrow's trip to ohio and texas and looking at a wide range of policies aimed at preventing mass shootings. those officials maintain the president understands the gravity of the moment. we'll find out tomorrow. >> jim acosta at the white house. thank you. joining us now el paso city councilmember cassandra hernandez. cassandra, thank you so much for joining u

senate because mitch mcconnell and the president are involved in the gun lobby. >> he was treating about joe biden as he ripped into mr. trump. >> how far from trump saying this is an invation to the shooter in el paso declaring, quote, this attack is a response to hispanic invasion of texas. how far apart are those comments? >> reporter: the president tweeted he was watching and said biden was so boring. the white house insisted the president would play the role of consoler-in-chief but president trump sounded at times that he was consoling himself. >> so my critics are political people, trying to make points. >> reporter: dodging questioning about his rhetoric and that he's somehow unified the country. >> i think my rhetoric brings people together. >> reporter: mr. trump was pressed on the el paso gunman's manifesto which appeared to be inspired in part by the president's use of the term invasion to describe migrants and he side stepped that one too. >> you and the shooter in el paso used the same language. do you regret that? >> i think that illegal immigration -- you're talking

something about gun violence. >> we can't get anything done in the senate. mitch mcconnell and the president of the united states are in bed the gun lobby. >> reporter: the president was live tweeting a speech from joe biden as he ripped into mr. trump. >> how far from trump saying this is an invasion to the shooter in el paso saying, this attack is a response to hispanic invasion of texas. how far apart are those comments? >> the president tweeted he was watching and said biden was so boring. the white house insisted the president would play the role of consoler in chief but mr. trump sounded at times as though he was consoling himself snfrl my critic are political people. they're trying to make points. >> reporter: dodging questions that his incendiary rhetoric and making the head scratching claim his language has somehow unified the country. >> i don't think my rhetoric has at all. i think it brings people together. >> reporter: mr. trump was pressed on the el paso gunman's manifesto which seemed to be inspired by the use of the word invasion regarding migrants. he side stepped

it from the president. if he was serious about it, he would have mitch mcconnell in his office and talking about the house bill that has already been voted on. the president has been in office for some time and over half of it he had the majority in the house and the flat. we could have added any time and passed toss measures before yet another disaster like this one. >> congressman, as you know, official at the department of homeland security have been urging the white house to make a threat of domestic terrorism a higher priority, but they have been rebuffed. what does that tell you? >> that they're not as focused on it as it should be. they don't recognize where the threats of. the fact is more resorbeds sources need to be devotesed to this. they need more analysis, more resources, and we need to look at the laws as related to there. there appear to be gaps answered. particularly -- domestic terror acts like this, there's clearly at this point not even a law that relates to domestic terrorism. that's work that has to be done. >> representative mike quigley, thank you for joining

: mitch mcconnell said he won't bring senators back to washington during the august recess. >> if we did that, we would have people scoring points and nothing would happen. >> reporter: mcconnell is facing intense pressure from democrats to bring back the senate, something said he is not going to do. he said he wants lawmakers to consider paths forward potentially while on recess before they return to capitol hill this fall. he talked about red flags and background checks. background checks are something we should note he is strongly opposed in the past, of course there he did not send any signal for support of a bill of background checks. a question of whether he will take action on that and it will succeed is another ball game, jim. >> thank you. i have been talking to a hospital official at el paso university medical center. i am told none of the eight patients on hand for the president's visit wanted to meet mr. trump. quote, some didn't want any visitors the official said before adding some didn't want to meet the president. we confirm two patients discharged were brought back t

mcconnell and the national rifle association on board and will anything get done? and america on edge. from a motorcycle backfiring in times square to an armed man wearing body armor at a missouri walmart, anything is setting off alarms and even panic and the country returning to normal. wolf blitzer is off and i'm jim acosta and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> and breaking news in the el paso mass shooting investigation, the arrest affidavit of the suspected gunman quotes him as saying he was targeting mexicans. the affidavit also said when he surrendered to police the suspect told them, quote, i'm the shooter. this comes as president trump said he has spoken with congressional leaders and sees bipartisan support for gun law reforms. and the question-and-answer session as he left the white house, he touted the possibility of a deal on what he calls, quote, very meaningful background checks and predicted the national rifle association will come around or in his words be a little bit more neutral. the group is signaling it is against the cur

. >> i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he's totally onboard. >> reporter: but his optimism is at odds with what the gop has said publicly. the senate majority leader signaled thursday he's open to considering new legislation -- >> the key to this, honestly, is making a law and not making a point. >> reporter: but his office has made clear he's endorsed nothing yet. >> this isn't a question of nra, republican, or democrat. >> reporter: the president also says he's confident he can persuade the gun lobby. >> i had a good talk with wayne. >> reporter: sources tell cnn nra chief wayne lapierre warned trump his base isn't on board with tougher background checks. >> i think in the end, wayne and the nra will either be there or maybe we'll be a little bit more neutral. >> reporter: and after the shooting in parkland, florida, it was the gun lobby that ultimately swayed the president. asked why the country should believe him now, trump said he never changed his mind. >> i never said what i'm saying now. >> reporter: asked what his message is for the children returning to school who fear

mcconnell's desk since february. the senate should pass those bills, then the house would send over other proposals to reduce gun violence. mitch mcconnell needs to do his job, bring senate in session. they have been sitting on his desk for months. >> he made it clear they're not coming back during the recess until mid september. there's been talk of your committee, the judiciary committee returning to washington during the summer recess to vote on gun control measures. would that put pressure on the senate majority leader to act? >> absolutely. would give us opportunity to remind the american people we have passed two important gun safety measures that save lives sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk. if the judiciary committee comes back, we can passe' digsal gun safety legislation, send that to the floor to keep pressure on mitch mcconnell. we have a gun violence epidemic in this country, it is time mitch mcconnell is willing to stand up to the power of the gun lobby, do what's right for the country. i hope by coming back, passing additional legislation on the committee, it will give

part of the problem. but today president trump said he thinks mitch mcconnell and a lot of republicans in his words want to do background checks so how do you interpret those remarks? >> it is about background checks but it is beyond background checks. i think president trump is fanning the flames of xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment, and mitch mcconnell is sitting on this. he needs to calln an emergency session to get this thing done. the house has already done the work. it is time for mitch mcconnell to not only stand up to the president, but to stand up and be a leader to get those two pieces of legislation that have already been passed by the house through the senate. >> why do you think he wouldn't even allow the two bills to come up for a vote? >> well, it seems to be -- and in one sense a lack of leadership. on the other hand i think he's playing to his base. he's on the ballot next year. he represents very conservative base. you have some good progressives and moderates in kentucky but for the most part i think it is a political calculation that hopefully will

heard about the two mass shootings. the president, mitch mcconnell the majority leader and other republicans want to do background checks. do you buy that? >> i'd love to buy that because this is something we passed hr-8 in the house, which is universal background checks. has the support of 95% of americans. we have a good chance of passing it in the senate if mitch mcconnell will allow it to come to the floor. what we fear is they'll do a watered down version or something that doesn't make a difference. this is something the american people should embrace. i don't agree with president trump on much but if he's willing to embrace universal background checks we should celebrate that. >> let me show you a picture of the gun and the clip that killed all these people. there you see it right there, 100 rounds potentially within 32 seconds, kills nine people that quickly. that kind of gun, should it be available legally to be purchased in the united states? >> absolutely not. and it was illegal for about ten years. that law unfortunately had a sunset clause on it but one of the things

republicans have delivered. >> but what about -- >> the trump/mcconnell era is the most fiscal irresponsible. >> reporter: julian castro bought ad time so the president could catch the ad in his golf club -- >> you stoke the fire of racist and people were shot down because they look different from you. because they look like me. they look like my family. >> reporter: president is also facing stinging criticism for not coming down hard enough on china over the crackdown on hong kong and wilbur ross described the protests in hong kong as an internal matter but fell -- republicans are arguing the president must do more to stand up for hong kong as predecessors have done in the past. presidents have been doing it for a long time, wolf. >> thank you for that report. >>> tonight discussions are underway among staffers from the white house and some senators about the possibility of expanding background checks for gun purchases. let's go to cnn's phil mattingly here in "the situation room" with us. in addition to being called these informational discussions, we know that the president'

shows how mitch mcconnell helped boost a russian backed project in his home state. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following breaking news on a very dangerous confrontation between police and at least one shooter in philadelphia. it is unfolding right now. police now say five officers have been shot. there are reports that at least six or seven shots rang out just a little while ago. also breaking, a major stock sell-off. the dow closing down 800 points tonight after a now warning signals that has been accurate in predicting recessions. another jolt of anxiety for investors already shaken by the u.s. trade war with china. tonight president trump is destroying to shirk any blame in a series of new tweets. he's claiming the fault wlis the federal reserve chairman he appointed. this hour, i'll talk with democratic congresswoman val demings. she's a former orlando police chief. and our corns and analysts are also standing by. first let's go to our senior justice correspondent, evan perez.

. it's a long time. >> reporter: are you pushing mitch mcconnell on background checks? >> i've been dealing with mitch mcconnell. we've had tremendous success with judges and judicial appointments. we're going to be up to 179 federal judges within the next two months. nobody would have believed that's possible. that was because president obama was unable to get them completed. so i inherited about 138 empty seats. nobody can believe it. we will have them almost all filled with tremendous judges and tremendously talented smart people. they'll be filled within two months. so i have 179 judges, and two supreme court justices. that's something that no one would everopathy possible. i want to thank president obama about that. >> reporter: i was talking about background checks on guns. >> we all have been speaking about it. i also want to remember that mental illness is somebody that nobody wants to talk about. these people are mentally ill. we have to study that also. you know, it's them, they pull the trigger. the gun doesn't pull the trigger. they pull the trigger. and we're looking at

mcconnell, to even consider these. >> look, we're going to need the help of the american people. i believe the will of the american people can overpower obstruction in the senate by the senate majority leader in terms of bringing bills to the floor for a vote. assault weapons ban, the high capacity magazines that hold the ammunition in these assault weapons and semi-automatic weapons. the overwhelming public wants to see that happen. think about it, we live in a country where we have cities that are banning plastic straws but we can't ban assault weapons? i mean, that just doesn't make sense to me. look, i think banning plastic straws will save the environment. i also think that banning assault weapons will save the lives of many people, children, mothers, sons, fathers and the list goes on. and we've seen that time and time again and my grandmother always told me, where there's a will, there's a way. we need the american people to join with us, especially all of these senators, including mitch mcconnell, who's up for re-election and let him know that this is our will and if you st

to get something done on gun violence? >> no. because trump and mcconnell are both lock step with the nra and they will not want him to do anything and much of the trump base is against any changes. even -- except they are for back-to-school. -- for background checks but the nra doesn't want it so we'll have a hearing on the 4th of september on bills on background checks on the red flag laws and try to -- and on high-capacity magazines but mitch mcconnell, the grim reaper, they won't go anywhere. >> what does it take to get something done on the federal level do you think? >> it takes a new president. takes a new senate majority leader. takes people of the country coming to grips with the fact that we have a leader who is not capable of leading this country. the economy is in danger because the president has no clue. he doesn't have an economist. he has a tv commentator. they don't know what to do. i've been with some of the leaders of around the world in the last several months and they are pretty much the folks i've been with and top financial people concerned about the united state

tell, letting everybody know the nra had been in his ear. they reminded him. for mcconnell reminded him. he relies on the rural voters that resonate stronger with gun rights than gun control. now he's done almost the full walk back and this suggests when congress comes back, we're not going to get a lot done. >> it was not only the nra but senator mcconnell on the hill saying we won't vote for anything like this. the political will just isn't there. >> it's interesting it isn't there? in so many ways republicans will be very careful to not break with president trump and yet he says something on guns like he's said and there is no way they're getting in line with him. why is that the case with this one issue? >> well, the president hasn't put his full force behind this issue. he's tip toed out. he's never stuck with it. i do wonder. this is a president that when he decides to leave, the gop usually follows in one way or another or at least enough to pass something and he hasn't been willing on this issue to put his neck out and probably is exactly why david said. it's not only the nr

mcconnell who is in a battle for election. re-election bid. so that is one reason why it will not happen. and two, this president understands the nra has him and the republicans locked up. so it is a double-edged sword but right now he's looking at the mood of america. the polls may say one thing but you don't see people in the streets like they were with parkland and parkland changed his mind. remember that? but then he went back, the nra got him. >> we're going to take a quick break. we have a lot more to talk about especially the president's recent comments about jewish americans who vote for democrats. all money managers might seem the same, but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher

mcconnell and speaker pelosi on an infrastructure bill, that would certainly help the economy. he walked away from the last opportunity to do that. second, stop being so child-ish with china and end this trade policy issue, and third, i'm going to give him credit. yesterday he took an important step on student loan dead. he prioritized disabled veterans and wiped out their debt, put them first. he's recognized this is an issue. he should work with congress to bring the interest rate down to zero, allow more money into more pockets every month so, this generation can buy homes, be entrepreneurs and start families. >>> if a recession hits, should congress spent even more money to stimulated economy, when we're seeing deficits rising? >> well, we should repeat the tax cuts where 73 went, who did not invests those tax cuts, what can you do is reward companies and give them a lower tax rates, but if it's going to be more giveaways to the wealthiest while two thirds of americans have less than $1,000 in their savings account and only 50% are invested in the stock market, that won't help

mcconnell, endorsed by the nra has relied heavily on them for funding and volunteers to remain the majority leader in the senate. he is endorsed by the nra and strongly supported by them. this flies in the face of poll after poll showing 90% of americans support stronger background checks as a way of keeping guns out of the hands of people that have them. this enjoys significant support from republicans, from gun owners and from americans as a whole. so i think this is going to be a real issue in the upcoming election, and president trump should seize this moment to show real leadership, and to get background checks, universal background checks, a vote on the floor in the senate and get them signed in to law. he could do this if he chose to stand up to the nra. it would be an important moment and it would help secure our public safety. but i am afraid we will see a repeat of what he has done the last few times. there was a mass shooting incident. initially he makes strong statements about his courage and ability to make us a stronger and safer country but then slinks away in the fa

the tape. >> hold the tape. well the tape is held, right? we're looking because mitch mcconnell was asked the same question in may of this last year, so this is closer in proximity to now oh, we'd fill t he said. >> he said the complete opposite. first of all, we should all say justice ginsburg we hope she's doing well. >> of course. >> she went to see "moulin rouge" on broadway and keeping a speech appointment next week. this is a tough lady, who intends to remain on the court, but what you just showed there is that should there be retirement, should there be a vacancy, it would clearly rip the country apart, because you've got lindsey graham saying one thing. you got mitch mcconnell saying another thing. >> who would you put stock in? who wins this fight, lindsey graham or mitch mcconnell? >> mitch mcconnell is the leader, although with lindsey graham these days you never know who he's going to side with, and i think it would be an epic battle, which is why i believe that ruth bader ginsburg is going to remain on that court. she knows what would occur. >> could you create a youtub

under assault. that mitch mcconnell has made it his life mission to pack the supreme court with conservative judges to undermine rights. i think too often we who believe in those rights have taken for granted that those rights have been protected. we now see an assault on the judiciary, and if we don't win this next election, many of the rights we care so deeply about are really threatened. i believe it's going to be a huge issue in the 2020 election. >> i want to turn now to your work in the house of representatives. the chairman of the judiciary committee, jerry nadler, has asked four other house committees to share any documents that could be relevant to the judiciary's effort to decide whether to impeach the president. you sit on one of those committees. the house oversight committee. what do you hope to share with chairman nadler? >> well, brianna, i hope we will share some of the information about the president's finances. you'll remember when michael cohen testified, he testified about wrongdoing in the trump organization and potential serious campaign finance violations