david: homeland security secretary kirstjen nielson visits the el paso border in texas. i am david asman, this is "bulls and bears," thank you for joining us. we begin with that crisis at the border, president trump calling to congress to act, tweeting, congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the

plus senator jeff merkel tells me why he's calling for the resignation of kirstjen nielson. and will heard was in a meeting with the president about what is happening here at the border which he represents and he joins me right after this. [ speaking foreign language ] with the largest selection of audiobooks. audible lets you follow plot twists off the beaten track. or discover magic when you hit the open road. with the free audible app, your stories go wherever you do. and for just $14.95 a month you get a credit, good for any audiobook. if you don't like it exchange it any time. no questions asked. you can also roll your credits to the next month if you don't use them. so take audible with you this summer... on the road... on the trail... or to the beach. start a 30-day trial and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime, and your books are yours to keep forever. no matter where you go this summer make it better with audible. text summer17 to 500500 to start listening today. hi! are you two getting along? oh, yeah, yeah. [ hiss ] [ gasps ] [ birds chirping] ♪ no matt

secretary nielson calling for new protections for migrants, madeline rivera has more from el paso, texas. >> the visit is in in case is only damage control. >> immigrant advocate fernando garcÍa says department homeland security kirstjen nielsen's visit to the border won't be enough especially to the families of two guatemalan children who died this month while held in cdp. >> this is too late. i don't know exactly what they will do. >> the deaths of flip' gÓmez alonso and 7-year-old jacqueline prompted policy changes within dhs including investigating the uptick in sick children crossing border and expanding medical treatments and assessment. nileson slammed immigration system in spike of children crossing illegally across the border. despite the changes, garcÍa believes the crisis will continue. >> it's not making any difference because the policy that's criminalizing immigrants, it's putting children in jail is not changing, independently of the visit so far secretary nielsen. the secretary's visit at least draws attention to the problem which is better than nothing at all. >> if w

this is according to reporting in "the new york times" that says that kirstjen nielson has drafted a resignation letter but not submitted it. joining me now is the reporter from "the new york times" who reported this story. why did nielson decide not to submit this resignation letter? >> well, we're not sure exactly why she didn't submit it in the end. what we know is that it was quite a meeting. this was a regular cabinet meeting. we had a little glimpse at the top of the meeting yesterday, as we normally do. reporters are let in. the president kind of gave a little bit of a hint about what was to come when he sort of described his frustration with the fact that immigration laws hadn't been toughened enough. then the reporters were let out of the room and the cameras were led away. we're told that at that meeting, which was to talk about immigration, to talk about what the country's doing to close the borders down, that the president just erupted, expressed his frustration about the fact that the laws were not working, that the border was too porous, and that much of his anger and f

. >>> homeland security secretary kirstjen nielson has reportedly drafted a resignation letter but not submitted it after the president blew up at her at a cabinet meeting. details from "the new york times" ahead. behr marquee presents: it's got potential. -i think it'll look really good without the stripes. whatever your home may hand you, behr through it, in one coat. behr marquee, #1 rated interior paint. find it exclusively at the home depot. not in this house.? 'cause that's no ordinary family. that's your family. which is why you didn't grab just any cheese. you picked up new kraft expertly paired cheddar and swiss for eggs. beat that! kraft. family greatly. hey, i'm curious about your social security alerts. oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ewww! being in the know is very good. don't shake! ahhh! sign up online for free. discover social security alerts. ethat's the height ofs mount everest. because each day she chooses to take the stairs. at work, at home... even on the escalator. that ca

the us secretary of homeland security, kirstjen nielsen, who enforced some of president trump's most controversial border policies, has resigned. ms nielson was responsible for implementing the proposed wall with mexico and the separation of migrant families which led to children being held in wire enclosures. she gave no reason for her departure, saying only that it was, "the right time for me to step aside". laura podesta reports. president trump on twitter confirmed a shuffle at homeland security. he thanked secretary kirstjen nielsen for her service and named kevin mcaleenan, the us customs and border protection commissioner her temporary replacement. a source tells cbs news white house senior adviser and immigration hawk stephen miller is behind the move and it's part of a broader overhaul at the department. we face a crisis... during her 16 month tenure, nielsen drew criticism from enforcing the separation of migrant families at the border. in march, members of the homeland security committee scrutinised the secretary for handling of the crisis. as a member of this committee yo

david: homeland security secretary kirstjen nielson visits the el paso border in texas. i am david asman, this is "bulls and bears," thank you for joining us. we begin with that crisis at the border, president trump calling to congress to act, tweeting, congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the border. this is a national emergency. businesses also warning about the economic impact of a border. but president trump said that security is his main concern. >> i agree. it is going to be a big toll but trade and commerce and making money for a country -- that is all very important. but to me, the most important job i have is the security of our country, even more important than those other things. david: white house is looking for ways to limit the economic data of a shut down, larry kudlow suggesting scening truck -- keeping truck lanes open for trade. >> one area we've explored to try to keep the freight lanes open, the truck lanes. i have talked with various officials, that is possible. david: texas attorney general ken paxton is joining us,

and doug zones fro -- joining fm alabama, and kirstjen nielson. >> you know have you someone like mitch mcconnell saying, i am sorry chuck schumer saying this first time we're getting into this democrats who run for president they inoculated themselve without casting a vote yea or i nay. they would say they are for something like this if he voted no, it would say this plan by alexandria ocasio-cortez is so far out there we can't get most liberal people to vote. >> chad, john layfield, we can't afford this stuff. when i had a professor on earlier he said deficits don't matter, because we have a recession in europe. it seems that a dog and pony show. they are trying too distract from fact we have a huge deficit. we can't do anything with i'm breaimmigration and healthcare, everyone is just throwing big bombs at each other, nothing is really getting done in dc. >> there is no effort to try to plan the budget and reduce deficit. a couple week ago, said balances by 2034 much there are questions about that. they have not balanced budget since late 1990s. there have been a lot of people on lef

he had taken over the post in april after kirstjen nielson had stepped down. he had come under fire for separating children from parents at the border. apprehensions at the border dropped for months. he is the 18th cabinet level official to exit the trump administration in less than three years. cbs news has learned turkish artillery fire came very close to hitting a u.s. outpost in northern syria today, an accident, apparently, as turkey attempts to drive the kurds out of the border region. david martin reports this is making an already dangerous situation worse. >> reporter: the turks have been lunching artillery and air strikes into syria but not yet er ised the border in strength. still, that artillery fire has all ready come too close for comfort to american troops. ooficials say three artillery hiells landed within a couple hundred yards of u.s. soldiers manning an observation post near their main base inside syria. no one was hurt, but it was cactly the kind of incident defense secretary mark esper and joint chiefs chairman general milley had warned the

homeland security secretary kirstjen nielson tells us even if daca expires, dreamers will not be targeted by agents. >>> all these solar powers are designed to produce more electricity than anyone there can use. >>> but we begin this morning with a look at today's eye opener, your world in the 90 seconds. >> just a horrifying case of abuse. >> police say parents held their kids captive, living in filth, some of them chained to beds. >> a harrowing discovery in southern california. >> authorities are investigating a couple for alleged torture and child endangerment. after one of the victims escaped and called police. >> horrible. i can't believe this. >> totally devastated by this act of cruelty. >> president trump says democrats do not want a deal on dreamers before a government shutdown. >> president trump tweeting senator dick durbin totally misrepresented what i said at the dak ta meet ica meeting. >> i stand behind every word i said. >> simone biles adding her name to the long list of athletes saying they were sexually abused by a former team doctor. >> i hope the doctor is in prison

coming darture of homeland he security secretary kirstjen nielson could set up a chain reaction in the west wing. paula reed is at the white house with more. paula, good morning. >> good morning. the usually press-shy first lady melania trump made an unexpected move yesterday when she released a public statement calling for ricardel to be fired after she allegedly feuded with the first lady's office. chief of staff john kelly and defense secretary james mattis. and this comes as an administration official tells cbs news that there will likely be significant staffing shakeups at the white house in the next few weeks. next ave my own voice. od my opinions. >> first lady melania trump's repeated clashes with the president's chief of staff john elly have reportedly included issues like staffing and travel requests. >> it's very important for me things i express what i feel. t's importatement, the first n ay's office denied there's any conflict, saying mrs. trump has la a very positive relationship trth chief kelly and there have nship wien any issues between the two. s betwere move, the fi

>>> just a few days after her boss kirstjen nielson was passed over for homeland security, claire grady, the acting deputy secretary is heading for the exit. brady joins several others in what has been described as a near systematic purge of the agency. officials tell cnn that grady knew her fate was tied to secretary nielsen who was at odds with immigration hardliner and top white house adviser stephen miller. president trump recently empowered stephen miller to take the lead on all issues concerning immigration and the border and one source said that miller might as well be the next homeland security since he is the one driving the policy. here is how the president reacted to that idea earlier today? >> i've never thought about making -- [ inaudible ]. now stephen is an excellent guy, a wonderful person. people don't know him. he's wonderful. been with me from the beginning. he's a brilliant man and frankly there is only one person that is running it and you know who that is? it's me. >> gill gurl cowski was the border protection administrator during the obama administration and thank

when the heartbreaking images of children first began to emerge the secretary and kirstjen nielson denied a policy in the first place. >> did not create a policy of separating families at the border. >> i hate the children being taken away. the democrats have to change their law. that's their law. >> now, hang on, that very same week steven miller, the chief immigration strategist told "new york times" and i'm quoting hi a simple decision by the administration to have a zero tolerance policy for illegal entry. period. and when asked if enforcing the zero tolerance policy was meant to deter migrants from crossing the border, attorney general jeff sessions on monday said this. >> hopefully people will get the message and come to the border at the port of entry and not break across the border unlawfully. >> get the message. okay, got it. back in may, chief white house, white house chief of staff told npr, quote, a big name of the game is deterrence. but secretary nielson, she didn't like that word. >> are you intending for this to play out as it is playing out? are you intending for parents

kirstjen nielson said, congress can fix it, only congress can. i'm going to be signing an executive order. huh. again. this is the problem here. they can't seem to get their story straight. and it's not just about their story, as you've detained and as we have detailed on the network. this is about human lives and kids being separated from their parents. anyone who has kids, knows kids, it is a hugely difficult thing that is not going to take a day or week to get over. brooke, back to you. >> not at all. whip lash, indeed, for all of us. chris cillizza, thank you. >>> what happens next, what happens to the children separated from their mothers and fathers? we'll talk to someone. >>> have you seen the latest cover of "time" magazine that shows this young girl, this immigrant child crying as president trump looks down at her. we'll discuss that with the editor of "time" coming up. dear foremothers, your society was led by a woman, who governed thousands... commanded armies... yielded to no one. when i found you in my dna, i learned where my strengt

nielson is at the border. she's visiting border patrol facilities one day after looking at conditions. she was in texas, she's in yuma, arizona today. in texas, she was looking at the medical screening processes and looking at the facilities themselves. her trip prompted by the recent deaths of two guatemalan immigrants children while in u.s. custody. one of them was suffering from the flu. nick valencia is in el paso. good to see you. we know part of her visit included speaking with local officers and officials about the immigration concerns, right? >> reporter: the biggest concern being the way the children are given health care. we understand she's already coordinated with the cdc as well as the coast guard in preparation for flu outbreak in the facilities. these facilities are overwhelmed. i talked to a border protection official with intimate knowledge and they said they were bursting at the seams. not only that, dealing with furloughs from the government shutdown, nielson is here, her visit happening in

nielson and jared kushner. the president has other things on his mind ahead of staff level talks he is not slated to attend at the moment. the president tweeted many people currently part of my opposition, including president obama and the dems, have had campaign violations in some cases for very large sums of money. these are civil cases. they paid a fine and settled. while no big deal, i did not commit a campaign violation. this is not the first time the president has repeated this dubious and misleading comparison to president obama. obama's 2008 had a civil campaign violation, they paid a fine and settled for it after the campaign, not obama himself, failed to report some donations on time, failed to return immediately some donations that exceeded the legal limit, while the president has been accused by the special counsel of being directly involved in a willful violation of campaign finance laws when according to prosecutors he directed his form former lawyer michael cohen to pay off people about affairs.

. >>> moments from now on capitol hill, kirstjen nielson will face tough questions on border security, also the zero tolerance policy. want more from your entertainment experience? just say teach me more. into your xfinice remote to discover all sorts of tips and tricks in x1. can i find my wifi password? just ask. [ ding ] show me my wifi password. hey now! [ ding ] you can even troubleshoot, learn new voice commands and much more. clean my daughter's room. [ ding ] oh, it won't do that. welp, someone should. just say "teach me more" into your voice remote and see how you can have an even better x1 experience. simple. easy. awesome. >>> this is the math here. there were big tax cuts. there's been big spending and now a big problem. the u.s. budget deficit skyrocketing up 77% over the same time one year ago. >> another stunning number this morning, the trade deficit hit a ten-year high. it grew to more than $100 billion under the president. christine romans is here to break it down. trade deficit we're going to get to in a moment, but the fact that you have the 77% increase here, is i

nielson. clearly people in her camp at the very least who are making clear what happened and credibly so. but the interesting part of this is she is describing to him the limits of what he can do. >> he hates that. >> she's in a room with him and a number of other aides. she's the one who really pushes back and in the end she gets canned. >> she pushes back, thought she was going to get fired once, didn't get fired that time but knew she was going to get fired eventually. and he called her sweetheart at one point, honey, just shoot the drones, sweetheart. very patronizing. and it's very clear that she was trying to bring him some semblance of reality. remember, this wasn't making her popular with anyone outside the oval and she was trying to bring him some sense of reality. and he would not accept it. you know, we can't close the border by friday, i think he wanted. >> can we visit that really quick before we wrap up here? the idea of closing the border, that was the thing that freaked out aid

secretaryecurity kirstjen nielson on thursday backed president trump's defense of violent white supremacists who attacked counter-protesters in charlottesville, virginia , last august, saying "both sides" were to blame for attacks that left one counter-protester , and antiracist protester, dead and dozens more injured. nielsen made the remark at a forum organized by the aspen institute. what is important about that conversation is that that it is not one side is right or wrong. anyone that is advocating violence, we need to work to mitigate. amy: last august 11th, hundreds of torch-bearing white supremacists held a march on the campus of the university of virginia, chanting "blood and soil," and "jews will not replace us." the next day, members of the group attacked counter-protesters, firing at least one shot from a pistol, and brutally beating 20-year-old deandre harris in a parking garage, before a neo-nazi named james alex fields drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators, murdering a local paralegal named heather heyer and injuring at least 19 others. in new york city, the nypd said th

agents who asked kirstjen nielson to consider pulling the agency apart. they investigate drug trafficking, they investigate terrorism. they say that this internal deportation enforcement that i.c.e. is doing is actually hurting their ability to keep the country safe. >> what do you say, rob? i mean, the president took this exactly where you think he would take it, next it will be all police. >> that's wrong. that's a lie. >> please let the democrats run on this in november because the senate will have about three or four pick ups, the house, they'll hold easily. if it comes down to the average person in america saying, wait a minute, you really want to abolish i.c.e.? let's go what i.c.e. stands for, i-c-e, right. >> immigration and customs enforcement. >> all they want is a "c" now, customs. they want to be passport stampers. >> that's not true. >> if you abolish i.c.e., you talk about immigration enforcement. enforcement is not what you want. >> customs and border protection would still enforce the border. >> with what? >> their border control agents. >

kirstjen nielson threatening to resign. scott pruitt. i confused tom price in the intro on the rocks here as we know in congress. but now possibly from this white house. will there be more departures in the near future? >> if you are senate republican leader mitch mcconnell he does not want to see any more departures. they're having a tough enough time getting through their cia chief, given what her background is. look what could happen. you are going into an election right now where all senate republicans want to do is try to get as many judges through the chamber as possible. they don't want to have to deal with having to go through a whole new round of confirmation hearings for a homeland security director, for an epa administrator or for anybody else right now. >> all right. thank you all very much. >>> up next, more breaking news. the white house tonight denying president trump's personal attorney was able to sell access to the president. this as we're learning more about the money michael cohen was getting. there is a whole lot mor

this kirstjen nielson is out at homeland security secretary. kevin mcaleenan, is taking over at least temporarily. he will be acting department of homeland security secretary. according to the president. kirstjen nielson, stepped some of the -- skipped some of the meetings in paris last month to deal with the migration crises in the country, she described as akin to aftermath of a category 5 hurricane. when you hear from casey stegall just reported in el paso sector, 70,000 illegal immigrants had crossed the border where last year the number of 9,000. clearly we're daysing a greater problem -- we're facing a greater problem in terms of human misery. and the president is putting his faith in kevin mcaleenan to try to wrap his arms around it. let's bring in tom, former acting director of i.c.e., you must know kevin, what do you think of his credentials. reporter: kevin probably one of the smartest guys that i have worked with. before he was commissioner, i was director of i.c.e. we worked on a lot of things together under secretary johnson. he is

. >>> homeland security secretary sirs general kne kirstjen nielson will travel to the border following the second death of a migrant child in custody. in a statement released yesterday nielson called the death of the 8-year-old guatemalan boy deeply concerning and heartbreaking. she says her system has been pushed to a breaking point by those who seek open borders. she claims the crisis is worsened by more and more people who are sick before they enter the u.s. and are placed into custody. the department says it now plans to increase medical screenings for every child who enters the detainment camps. >> you do not know how many human beings have died while in the custody of the department that you lead and you in preparation for today's hearing, you didn't ascertain that number? but you don't know it today? >> i don't have an exact figure for you? >> do you have a rough idea? >> sir, what i can tell you -- >> i'm talking about people kwhof diwho have died in your custody. you don't have the number? >> i will get back to you with the number. >> the two deaths this month -- nancy pelosi

nielson after 11 months on the job. the report claims trump cancelled a planned trip with nielson later this week. the announcement could come as soon as this week, according to the post. trump has changed his mind on key personnel decisions before and chief of staff john kelly is attempting to postpone the dismissal. the president has grumbled for months on what he calls her lackluster immigration performance. >> so the rules of engagement or what? >> the rules of engagement for us are the same as they've always been. for d.o.d. we're still in discussions and we're working them out. >> is there any snare know under which people could be shot at? >> we do not have any intention right now to shoot at people. they will be apprehended, ho however. >> we see people from the middle east, from southeast asia, from other parts of the world. these are not just from central america. we don't always know exactly who they are. what i can tell you is we stopped 3,000 people last year at the southwest border who had patterns of trav

he was specifically asked about the potential departures of john kelly and kirstjen nielson. trump said quote, always in an administration after the midterms we make changes. i'm looking at things. i haven't made a decision yet. trump continued, i will be making a decision on homeland shortly. i have not made decisions yet. i will be making changes on various things. >>> senators mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer have been reelected to their senate rules. roy blunt is freed up to become policy chair. todd young will lead efforts to get senate republicans elected replacing corey gardener. >>> and house republicans elected kevin mcar think to be their new leader, defeating jim jordan. mc the other shakeup, liz cheney was elected gop conference chair, the number one position and the one her father dick cheney held for more than 30 years. >> on tuesday song man seth moulton said he is 100% confident that pelosi did not have the votes. pelosi said she is confident she will be the speaker no matter what he said. >>> joining us now, reporter for the "washington post" eugene scott. l

a meeting last monday deinvolved into melee pitting john kelly and kirstjen nielson against other attendees who have supported the president's more hawkish immigration agenda. they told the president the move was beyond his constitutional powers. they were vocally opposed by steven miller and chris crane, the president of the national immigration and customs enforcement council. according to politico, kelly and nielson eventually came around to the president's position and the bitter dispute ended tuesday evening when kelly on trump's orders signed the cabinet declaration granting the military the authority. >>> hillary clinton is attempting to clarify comments she made concerning european migration. clinton said european leaders should push for greater immigration control to deal with the rise of right wing politics. quote, i think europe needs to get a handle on migration, because that is what lit the flame. i admire the generous and compassionate approaches that were taken by leaders like angela merkel. but i think it is fair to say europe has done its part and must send a very clear mes

he has more power than dhs secretary kirstjen nielson, it appears. it didn't really work last time. the numbers of people who are coming across the border only declined slightly. it would just cause another outcry this time and trump would have to probably go back because there would be such a negative reaction. so it doesn't seem like miller has changed and trump basically lets him do what he wants in this. >>> there's growing international pressure over the disappearance and alleged killing of "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi and saudi arabia says it would not back down to threats, saying it would retaliate to any possible sanctions by flexing its economic power. i know that several european countries have weighed in on this. they're pressuring saudi arabia for answers. >> that's exactly right. international pressure is mounting. khashoggi hasn't been seen since october 2nd when he walked into a saudi consulate in turkey. as far as we know, he never came out. the u.k., germany and france put out a joint statement calling on the saudis to give a detailed account of khash

why have we not heard from kirstjen nielson? >> we haven't heard very much from her. we haven't heard anything from the white house homeland security advisor who is usually the person in the administration kind of on point for this. we have a pretty serious domestic terrorism problem in this countery. i think you need to see an administration-wide response to it kind of like the response of the obama administration. it's very hard to do that when the president is kind of the chief propagandist who's out endorsing the conspiracy theories and fanning the flames of hate. it's hard for the administration to take on that ideology when you see the president not willing to do it and kind of endorsing it and being the person these people are rallying behind. >> i've seen a lot of commentary to whether the u.s. should tackle domestic terrorism. >>> still ahead, attorney general jeff sessions' future at the helm of the justice department potentially nearing an end with the midterms. the new details on when sessions may be out as attorney general and the key support he has lost

. >> secretary nielson, how dare you spend your evening eating dinner here? over 10,000 children separated from their parents. >> homeland security secretary kirstjen neilsen is in a restaurant of all places. shame on you! >> shame! shame! >> fascist pig. >> sean: it gets worse. on friday morning, more protesters surrounded secretary nielsen's home blasting audio recordings of crying children. nobody is now safe from what a mob mentality of the left. not even children are safe as you just saw with sarah huckabee sanders. last week we first reported the president's 12-year-old son, the target of a vile attack just like secretary nielson on twitter from peter fonda. yeah. hanoi jane's brother. she tweeted, we should rip baron trip from his mother's arms, put him in a cage with pedophiles and see if the mother will stand up against the giant blob that she's married to. president trump's 4-year-old granddaughter was also threatened on twitter by a canadian writer. both of these people apologized for these horrific threats. where are the arrests? you're not allowe

kirstjen nielsen is currently the principal deputy staff to president trump and was the chief-of-staff to then secretary john kelly the department of homeland security. ms. nielson served in the bush administration special assistant to the president and senior director in the white house security council from 2004 to 2007. she holds a bachelor degree from the george washington university. ms. nielson? >> thank you. mr. chairman, ranking member mccaskill and distinguished members of the committee, it is an honor to appear before you today as you consider my nomination to lead the department of homeland security. i am humbled and grateful to the president for the trust he has placed in me to lead the great men and women of the department during such a critical time. i want to thank senator rubio and portman for their kind words and introductions. thank you also to former secretaries ridge and chertoff for their statements. it was an honor to serve and work with them and i look forward to their continued partnership of our homeland security enterprise. finally, i want to thank secretary -

nielson says that includes updating emergency supply kits. kirstjen nielsen: that's food, medications, cash but it's also those important documents: it's the drivers' license, your passport, your birth and marriage certificates.//daniel kaniewski: now is the time to plan. frankly when an event happens it is likely too late. anna wiernicki: hurricane season officially ends november 30-th.in washington, i'm anna wiernicki. (catherine)(catherine) also happening now: a shark warning in pacifica.. a 12- foot shark was spotted around noon today -- just south of pacifica pier - along sharp park beach. police say -- while shark sightngs are not common in that area -- the pacific coast is part of the natural habitiat for sharks, beach-goers are being told to be careful - and be aware of their (pam) time now for a look at tonight's top local stories. sottheives are targeting starbucks customers and their personal items left in vehicles at coffee shop locations in hercules. here on san pablo avenue and at this willow avenue locationsot

in her resignation letter, nielson wrote she hopes the next secretary will have the support of congress to fix the laws which have impeded america's ability to fix the borders. >> her hands have been tied in many ways. the president is frustrated with what is going on at the southern border and he is going in a different direction. >> president trump has named kevin mcaleenan the acting head of the homeland security department. here is what we know about nielson's replacement. he is 47 years old, born in honolulu. he went to college at amhurst and the university of chicago. he was practicing law until 2001 when he was motivated by the september 11 attacks to aplay for a job with the fbi. he was the commissioner of the u.s. border and customs protections. california senator kamala harris said she will not support a nominee who does not denounce the trump administration's policy of separating families at the border. senator harris is a member of the senate homeland security committee. >>> the trump administration says it needs more time to reunite families separated at the border. they wa

the trump administration's point person on both border security and immigration policy is kirstjen nielson last week described crisis as a system ride break down. the system she is in charge of. she appears to be more a part of the problem than the solution. president trump vowing to shut down the border to protect our national security. >> a little secret, security

the trump administration's point person on both border security and immigration policy is kirstjen nielson last week described crisis as a system ride break down. the system she is in charge of. she appears to be more a part of the problem than the solution. president trump vowing to shut down the border to protect our national security. >> a little secret, security is more por important to me than t, we'll have a strong border or a closed border, when we close that border we'll stop hundreds of millions of dollars of drugs from coming in. tremendous aims of drugs come through the southern border, i'm prepared to do it we'll see what happens over the next few days. lou: president's strong stand to secure border in contrast to that of his secretary of homeland security. she waited 6 weeks after president had declared a national emergency on the border with mexico before she sought authorities and resources to deal with the crisis. and weak kneed congressional rinos are as predictable as radical dimms, they have been complicit in allowing illegal immigration that now out of control. >> closi

and they look abandoned at that border because of kirstjen nielson. a secretary who is clearly, as i said earlier, if i have seen an example of of someone in over their head it is her. >> i think that president trump right now because of outcome of mueller report has some new political capital. and i think if there is one place he should spend it, it is on the border, on immigration, and enforcement. he and we'll see how courts deal with national emergency. lou: move ahead. >> absolutely. lou: no matter, defend the borders that is the point of president. >> do it now, and let the courts try to stop you. lou: the courts are full of it. >> well. lou: there is no way that you deny the president of the united states his constitutional duty too secure the nation. >> i think he will prevail, but in meantime he should use his little bit -- political capital. lou: how about deputy. >> the democrat now control house -- >> come on. >> let me finish. basically say -- >> no. >> bottom line, is they don't want allocate defense. lou: who cares what they want secure

problem is not kirstjen nielson it is congress. lou: what would folks in your country say, i'm trying to enforce the law and take charge, this just is not acceptable at any point. what would we do if defense secretary, we would love to defend the nation, but we can't. it is just preposterous when we're accepting. isn't it to you as well? >> of course it is, i'm as frustrated as anyone, i was at a meeting with kirstjen nielson last week on the border, she is as committed to get this done, she is trying to work with border patrol, telling congress, she within before congress, and told them what was going ocongress did not want to hear about it. lou: what is congress doing to o do. they want illegal immigrants flowing across that border nonstop, it a fool'ser ra errano doing congress to ask for help that is why president declared national emergency, he said he would choice the border, do you support that to control this. >> i support closing the border, a hundred thousand people are expected to come across in march, a hundred thousand

dhs secretary kirstjen nielsen was forced to re-sign. claire grady is expected to be pushed out. and head of customs and border protection is replacing nielson that now leaves a big void at the cdp. we found out monday that the head of the secret service is being forced to re-sign and francis could be next on the chopping block. all of this is happening while the situation at the border continues to get more chaotic and nothing this administration has done seems to make a dent. so what you have is a president that thought immigration could be his best issue in 2020 but unless he turns things around, it could end up being his greatest failure. john allen put it this way, quote, the humanitarian emergency at the border threatens to create a crisis in competence for his administration. if illegal immigration was a problem before trump took office, it has become worse, not better, since then and he is looking for scapegoats. remember those scapegoats will be members of his own administration. many of whom the president chose. remember kirstjen nielsen was not a lay over. he chose her

julia, was kirstjen nielson dismissed because he wants more families separated? >> that's right. basically, katy, when the president saw numbers increase of undocumented immigrants coming across the border, he wanted strong policies to come out. what he had in his back pocket from the summer was policy of separating families. she said no, you can't do that. didn't oppose it on moral grounds, on legal, logistical grounds. they didn't have space to hold people. if they were going to hold people in mass scale, they had to get around court decisions that say you have to reunify the family separated. the president would have to undo his own executive action that ended family separation last summer. for all these reasons she laid out, it didn't make sense. she went a number of other routes. she increased the number of border agents at the border to enforce border operations. we know she proposed legislation that would allow cbp to deport children more quickly. we know she was able to send more asylum seekers to mexico to wait. it is not like she was a soft liner on immigration by any s

as my service secretary, honorable pierson nielson recently kirstjen nielsen, the home game and the away game are no longer distinct. they are in fact, one and the same. so this poses complicated obstacles to national security. and the coast guard is absolutely part of that solution. as challenges to our nation's security prosperity and global influence grow and become more complex, the need for a ready, relevant, and responsive coast guard has never been greater. the demand for coast guard services is unprecedented. from the public we serve, from our own department, from federal, state and local partners, and from the geographic combatant commanders spread across the globe. the coast guard, we are in fact the smallest of the five armed services but we're a global force. with unique authority, and capabilities. and while we respond to disasters, while we rescue mariners in distress, we conduct law enforcement, regulate commerce on our waterways, we also operate 24 hours a day, search days a week, 365 days a year to keep our nation secure. it is those efforts that are so often overlooked.

that move brings an end to nielson's often controversial leadership of the department and comes amid the president's frustration with a rising number of apprehensions at the u.s.-mexico border. >> nbc learned that kirstjen nielsen was asked to the white house and asked to re-sign. the president tweeted kirstjen nielsen will be leaving her position. i'd like to thank her for her service. he also tweeted i'm pleased to announce that the current u.s. customs and border protection commissioner will become acting secretary. president trump reportedly grew frustrated over the growing number of apprehensions at the southern border. an issue the president discussed during his trip to the border last week. >> it's a colossal surge and it's overwhelming our immigration system. and we can't let that happen. >> nielson had been in the post since december of 2017. and her tenure was controversial. she submitted her residence egg nati -- resignation and thanked the president for an opportunity to serve in his administration. >> on the heels of president trump's visit to the mexico border, gavin ne

. >> it seems to contradict what we just saw and heard from dhs secretary kirstjen nielson and signed an agreement with the leaders of honduras and el salvador and guatemala. let's put up the quote. now take that money away, how do you hold that line of addressing the root causes if you withdraw the funding? it seems this kind of came at the last minute and each the dhs secretary did not know. >> exactly. look. again, it's more politics than policy. the politics sound great when he says on twitter, of all places, i'll shut down the border and, you know, harm or inconvenience hundreds of thousands of people at a possible cost of billions of dollars if you don't do what i say. on the ground the situation looks a lot different. it's good that the whole homeland security secretary was there trying to draeaddress thet causes. if they don't get some kind of aid down there, what we are seeing is a regular sort of seasonal bump in migrants fleeing these countries because it's going to get really, really hot pretty soon and then you won't be able to sort of walk your way all the way to the u.s

. >> i want to remind you that kirstjen nielson hasn't seen the evidence that the russians meddled in the election and it may very well be that she lives in a remarkable bubble. she doesn't hear much and have access to the internet. that may be. >> also the price of keeping your job in this cabinet is really, really high. and that's what the president demands of people who we read stories about the president excoriating her in meetings over the issues that are happening on the border. we know how he treated jeff sessions. this is what it takes, apparently, to be able to hang in this cabinet. >> thank you very much for all the analysis. >>> ahead, we'll speak with congressman bob goodlatte. where does he think this is headed? what will he do to help these children separated from their parents? >>> we also need to talk about what is affecting markets today. that is president trump's new tariff threat against china. we are waiting and watching to see all of the ripple effect of this. >> markets are way down. how can we say when you book direct at choicehotels.com you always get the lowes

also, secretary kirstjen nielson says don't call it a deterrent. >> are you intending this to play out the way it is playing out. are you intending for children to be separated from their parents and send a message? >> i find that offensive. no. because why would i ever create a policy that purposely does that. >> deterrence. >> no. >> offensive. how could anyone suggest separating 2,000 children from their parents would be a deterrent? how could anyone ever think that unless they listen to the attorney general. >> are you considering this a deterrent? >> i say the fact that no one was being prosecuted for this as a factor in a five-fold increase in four years in this kind of illegal immigration. so, yes, hopefully people will get the message. >> sounds like the attorney general thinks it's a deterrent. also seems like the white house chief of staff thinks it might be, too. what gives it away is when he calls it a deterrent. >> a big name of the game is deterrence. >> family separation stands as a tough deterrent. >> could be a tough deterrent. would be a tough deterrent. >> 2,000 chil