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Erin Burnett Outfront
Mother Told to Return to Mexico After 18 Years in U.S.; North Korea Warns of War With U.S. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired March 07, 2017 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN WOLF AND THE SITUATION ROOM HOST: -- room. Erin Burnett OutFront starts now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT HOST: OutFront next. Breaking news. Three key republican leaders say they've seen no evidence to back President Trump's claim that he was wiretapped by President Obama. And the White House says Trump has no regret about making the charge.
Plus a mother of four told today to buy a one-way ticket to Mexico. Being separated from her family. Is she one of the bad hombres that Trump was talking about?
And why was Hillary Clinton watching over Donald Trump today. Let's go OutFront.
And good evening. I'm Erin Butrnett. OutFront tonight, the breaking news. Breaking with the president. Three top republicans at this hour telling CNN they have seen no evidence that former President Obama had Trump's phones wiretapped. Here's the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Devin Nunes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEVIN NUNES, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I have not seen that evidence. As you know, I think a lot of that was maybe a little bit the multiple tweets were perhaps a little bit strung together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Echoed by the top republican on senate intelligence committee, Richard Burr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD BURR, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We don't have anything today that would send us in that direction but that's not to say that we might not find something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when pressed said he saw no proof either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R), MAJORITY LEADER: We have an existing committee, the intelligence committee looking at all aspects of what may have been done last year related to the Russians or the campaigns and we'll leave it there.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Have you seen any evidence of that?
MCCONNELL: No. I haven't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: No, I haven't. Well, that comes as the first public hearing in the house on Russia's meddling in the U.S. Election is put on fast track. Among those to testify the FBI Director James Comey who of course is in the center of this storm. Jeff Zeleny begins our coverage OutFront, And Jeff, it's pretty amazing. The top republicans we see again and, again. They are not coming to the president's defense on this issue. But the White House today very clearly not backing down.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Not backing down at all. And Erin, you're right. Those are just the republicans. Never mind the democrats in this town. All of them who are questioning what is the president talking about. But at White House briefing today, the Press Secretary Sean Spicer said simply that he, you know, would not refute the evidence. He was asked again, and, again, to show the evidence, show some sign of something that's happened over the last three days. And this is what he said again, and, again, under questioning from Jim Acosta and others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Where is the evidence, where is the proof that President Obama bugged President Trump?
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I answered this question yesterday on camera on your air. So just so we're clear. I know this is now be twice. But I think I've made it clear yesterday.
ACOSTA: But since yesterday, since yesterday is there anything improved?
SPICER: Nothing has changed. No. It's not a question of -- it's not a question of new proof or less proof or whatever. The answer is the same. And I think that -- which is that I think the -- that there is a concern about what happened in 2016 election.
HALLIE JACKSON, MSNBC WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Why would the president want congress to investigate for information he already has?
SPICER: I think there's a -- there's a separation of powers aspect here. As I mentioned to Jonathan that we think it's --
JACKSON: Not the resources of time, why waste that?
SPICER: Well, it's not a question of waste it. It's a question of appropriateness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, Erin, you see there, Sean Spicer trying to respond, but definitely not answer these questions. There is simply has been no evidence provided. And this is something that the president could have a conversation directly with his FBI Director, his other intelligence officials here rather than have the house and senate explore this. Now, there are republicans in this town who wonder if the president has, you know, stepped into something here more than he thought on Saturday morning when he was sending out all those message that were so accusatory.
But again, Erin, three days in, no evidence. Now, it is going to be up to those Hill Committees to look into this. We'll see what they find. If they don't find anything the White House then of course will then have even more answering to do. Erin?
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. Jeff, and this comes after a very heated down Capitol Hill for the man picked to be attorney general or Sessions' deputy in the justice department. A very big decision there for the president. Pamela Brown OutFront.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Tonight the White House not offering evidence of President Trump's (INAUDIBLE) the claim that President Obama wiretapped Trump's phones during the campaign. But it did reiterate its desire to investigate leaks to the press.
SPICER: As the president said in the statement on Sunday, we believe that investigation as well as the investigation of other classified leaks and other important information that threatens our national security be looked into by the house and senate intelligence committees.
BROWN: But there was plenty of fresh confusion for members of congress over the accusation.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: I think that the President of the United States who has stated categorically that Trump Tower was wiretapped that he should forth come forward with the information that led him to that conclusion.
BROWN: And tonight, Senator Cornyn telling CNN that the senate intelligence investigation will look at the wiretapping claims.
RAJU: Do you believe the president when he says that?
SEN. JOHN CORNYN, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, like I said, it needs an investigation so we can find out what the facts are. So, we'll follow the facts wherever they may lead.
RAJU: I think largely though -- largely, is it -- was it appropriate for him to say that, to accuse President Obama of this? CORNYN: I don't know what -- I don't know what basis of his statement
is, so I really can't comment on that.
BROWN: Today, the attorney general refused to comment on the president's wiretapping accusation.
JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: Good day. Thank you.
BROWN: But democrats are demanding more answers after Jeff Sessions originally failed to disclose two meetings he had with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. leading to his recusal.
SESSIONS: Therefore, I have recused myself.
SEN. AL FRANKEN, (D) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: He should come back and explain himself, Mr. Chairman. I think he owes that to us.
BROWN: But Judiciary Committee Chairman, Republican Chuck Grassley coming to Sessions' defense.
CHUCK GRASSLEY, (R) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: If I was just going to ask you got you question, I was going to tell you about it ahead of time. And I consider what Senator Franken asked Sessions at that late moment that that story just come out as I got your question.
SEN. AL FRANKEN, (D) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It was not, I got your question, sir.
BROWN: As questions about Russian interference into the U.S. election swirled. Rod Rosenstein, the man nominated to be deputy attorney general who will take over the investigation is at the center of the storm.
ROD ROSENSTEIN, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND: I want to make sure we're all clear on this. I do not know if there is an investigation. I don't know anything but what I read in the newspaper at this point.
FRANKEN: Well, I actually find -- found -- find it very disturbing that you did not read the declassified report on Russia's activities during the election. I find that very, very disturbing.
BROWN: And tonight democratic congressman Adam Schiff says the intelligence committee will review President Trump's wiretap allegation saying, "it is also a scandal of those allegations prove to be false." Meantime, Erin, we learn today the first public hearing on the Russian investigation will be on March 20th on the Hill. You imagine all eyes will be on that.
BURNETT: Oh, yes. All right. Thank you, Pamela. And OutFront now, our Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, our Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston, and the Washington Post National Political Reporter Abby Phillip. Thanks to all. Mark, how much longer can the White House do this? Defend Trump as Sean Spicer did today without any evidence. MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Until they no longer
decide they want to talk about it. This is something we have seen from Donald Trump. We've seen this from his aides all through the campaign, now through -- into his administration, you know, we're coming up on what, 45 days right now that he's been in office. What I think is going to happen is that at some point, Donald Trump is going to stop talking about it and he's going to go onto next issue.
And it really isn't coming upon us the whole (INAUDIBLE) because what he has done is really incredibly damaging I think to the United States government. And quite frankly, to Barack Obama's reputation.
BURNETT: Right. Absolutely. I mean, Gloria, here's the thing. What we just saw that, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's seen no evidence yet, of course he says yet but none yet to back this up. Many other republicans have made similar comments. I shared with you the head of the intelligence committees but here are some others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHRIS STEWART, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If the president has information and he could declassify that without endangering national security, I would encourage him to do that.
SEN. TOM COTTON, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I've seen no evidence of the allegations we've seen in the media.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I'm not sure what it is he is talking about. If it's true, obviously, we're going to find out very quickly. And it isn't, then obviously he'll have to explain what he meant by it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Are they deserting him on this, Gloria?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, they are. Look, only the president knows because he has access to this classified information and he can release it any time he wants. And I think you're asking republicans if you're the president to support him on something they don't know anything about at this point. So they can't do it. It kind of reminds me of the voter fraud issue in many ways. You know, republicans said look, we don't see any evidence of voter fraud.
And what the White House did was say OK, have congress investigate it. And what are they doing this time? They're saying, let's have congress investigate this. Make this part of their investigation. It's a very convenient way for the White House to have to kind of push this to the side. Just as they did with the -- with the voter fraud issues.
BURNETT: So, Abby, you know, it's interesting that analogy. Also, today, that heated moment at the confirmation hearing of course, you know, that we've all seen with Franken and -- Senator Franken and Senator Sessions, at the time now, attorney general. Now, Al Franken came on CNN earlier today and said he is convinced that Senator Sessions committed perjury at that time. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Listen, I've been cutting him a lot of slack. I've been refusing to say that he lied. I've been -- I wanted to wait for this letter to come out. It's hard to come to any other conclusion that he just purged himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, I supposed giving himself a little bit of it out there but I mean, do you expect this? I mean, using that word, they have been a little bit low to do so. He said I've been cutting him slack. Now, not so much.
ABBY PHILLIP, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: This is sort of the democrats leaving breadcrumbs for a future date, unknown when this will come back but you see Al Franken essentially setting up traps for Jeff Sessions and for other folks in this administration so that at some point in the future, they can turn back to some of these things and say here's the evidence. And I think this is the motto for this interestingly enough.
I think it's what republicans did throughout the Benghazi hearings of Hillary Clinton. They -- the whole process of sort of questioning her for hours and hours and hours was to create a public record that could then be referenced when more information came out. That's part of the strategy here with some of these hearings. And I think democrats particularly Al Franken appears to be playing a little bit more of a longer game with this.
And perhaps, biting their time until they actually -- they may come a time when then democrats have control of the senate again and they control of that committee and can do whatever they wish with that information including prosecuting a perjury case against Jeff Sessions.
BURNETT: Yes. I mean, what is the goal here? Because, you know, they -- at first they had been all about recusal. They got what they wanted. And there weren't so many calls for resignation but now we're hearing more. And now you have Al Franken coming out using the (purger) word.
PRESTON: Yes. I think it's a two-step process. I mean, the first step is that they have to appease their base and I know that our viewers out there are saying why is it always about politics because it's always about politics. So, there is part of this and what we're hearing from democrats is that they're recusing their base.
Having said that though, Donald Trump in several of people in his administration are making it easy for them. They're making it easy, certainly the president is making it easy by going out and making these outlandish accusations, you know, using information that is not truthful. Some would call it lying. I would call it lying in some respects. And they feel like this is their opportunity right now to try to pin republicans against the wall. That's why we haven't heard a lot from republicans. And even the response that we saw, you know, just today a few hours ago were fairly muted from republican.
BURNETT: Fairly muted. And they all look very sad.
PRESTON: Right.
BURNETT: Sad facts on that one. All right. Thank you. And next, war within the GOP over Obamacare repeal and replace. Is the bill dead on arrival? That breaking news next. Plus, we've been following the story of an undocumented immigrant leaving in fear of deportation. Today the mother of four who broke the law nearly 20 years ago was told to leave the country. Is it fair? You're going to actually see her as she goes in and meets with those officials.
She thinks she gets one piece of news. It turns out to be a very different directive. And on a lighter note, Jeannie Moss on how this photo op has people asking whether Clinton is spying on Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news. President Trump declaring his support for the long awaited republican plan to replace Obamacare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to have something that's going to be much more understood and much more popular than people can even imagine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Late today, the House Speaker Paul Ryan guaranteed in his words, he would have the votes needed to get the bill passed in the house. But plenty of republicans say they are not onboard. Phil Mattingly is OutFront beginning our coverage on Capitol Hill.
KEVIN BRADY, (R) CHAIRMAN, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: This is Obamacare gone.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Less than 24 hours after the House GOP Obamacare repeal bill finally saw the light of day.
BRADY: This is the first and most important step to giving relief to Americans from this terrible law.
MATTINGLY: House and senate conservatives are already threatening its very existence.
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE: Now, I think the bill as it stand really is dead on arrival. I don't think it's going to ever arrive in the senate. I think it's dead on arrival in the house.
MATTINGLY: Bolstered by pressure outside conservative groups including this round. Coke brothers backed Americans for prosperity. Just a football field away from the Capitol building. TIM PHILLIPS, PRESIDENT, AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY: You're going to
have the shortest lived majority in the modern era if they fail to fully repeal Obamacare.
MATTINGLY: The early revolt creating a very real math problem for republicans. The majority in the house given the unified opposition among democrats in five vacant seats right now allows leaders to lose just 21 votes or in the senate. Republicans can only afford to lose two of their 52 members. Moderates have long been wearing of looming democratic attacks on how many people the bill will actually cover. Something sources tell CNN the congressional budgets office has told GOP leader will likely fall far short of Obamacare's projections.
REP. RYAN PAUL, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: What matters is that we're lowering the cost of healthcare and giving people access to affordable healthcare plans. The government will always win the war on government plan saying if we mandate, everybody buys what we say they have to buy then the government will always estimate that they'll buy it. I just think that's bogus.
MATTINGLY: Conservatives remain increasingly skeptical of the refundable tax credits that would replace Obamacare subsidies in providing aide for individuals without employer insurance to purchase plans. Then there's the restructuring of Medicaid. A hot button issue across the country given the program's expansion many same states took under Obamacare. Four GOP Senators said they will oppose any bill that doesn't protect enrollees in their states.
This GOP Aide tells CNN is the moment when some White House muscle will be needed. President Trump today meeting with top house vote counters and urging support for the house plan.
TRUMP: I really believe we're going to have tremendous support. I'm already seeing the support not only in this room, I'm seeing it from everybody and I got elected to a certain extent. I would say pretty good little chunk based on the fact repeal and replace Obamacare and many of you people are in the same boat.
MATTINGLY: And Erin, I can tell you, based on conversations I've had with house leadership lawmakers and top aides of the course, the last couple of hours, they feel confident they can give this bill to the right place. There's no question they're going to need help and that's exactly where President Trump, Vice President Pence, Health And Human Services Secretary Tom Price come in to play. All of them working on the Hill over the course of if last 24 hours to sort of try to move this bill forward.
One house leadership aide I just spoke to said, look, tell me these conservatives will turn down the president not just by phone but to his face when he tells that they need to get on board. When that happens, then they'll think they're in trouble. But the reality here is they don't have a clear path to that majority yet. There's still a lot of work to do, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you, Phil. OutFront tonight. Republican Senator Rand Paul, he's introduced his own healthcare bill. And Senator, I appreciate your time. We just heard you say the GOP leadership bill is dead on arrival. The republican president of course says he supports it. Are you worried about taking away the one chance you may have to actually get rid of Obamacare by refusing to vote for that leadership bill?
PAUL: Well, I actually think there's actually much more unity than people think. One of the things that's united republicans really since 2010 is repeal. So I think we're very, very united on repeal. Not so much on replace. And so I think the real problem is adding replacement to the repeal bill. We voted about a year ago on repeal and it was nearly unanimous. I think we could do that again. But on replacement, we have different ideas. You know, my idea of replacement is really not a new government program.
It's allowing the marketplace to work. The new house plan is a little bit more Obamacare Lite than I would like. But I think we could vote on various replacements even let the democrats have a vote. We should have a variety of replacement bills but I think the repeal bill probably won't pass unless retake replacement off from it.
BURNETT: What I don't understand here though, is that, you know, you said you want to repeal and replace at the same time right? That's crucial to do. So sure, you can all agree on repeal. Check that box but if you can't agree on replace, what's the point? Right? Why not just put it all in one bill and fight it out until you get it right because you can't repeal without replacing.
PAUL: Well, no, I want to do it on the same day. So I do want to repeal and I think that unites us. I don't think we're as united on replacement but I actually think there might be some bipartisan shifting back and forth and that there might be a republican and democratic coalitions on replace. I think that we all want the same thing. We want less expensive insurance and more people to be insured and more people to get healthcare.
We used to have different approaches to how we get there. But I don't think it's impossible to find some agreement and ideally we would be going united as the country if it weren't just coming from one party.
BURNETT: So the president has said he supports the GOP leadership bill. Here's what he said about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This will be a plan where you can choose your doctor, this will be a plan where you can choose your plan. And you know what the plan is. This is the plan. And we're going to have a tremendous -- I think we're going to have tremendous success. It's a complicated process, but actually it's very simple. It's called good healthcare.
BURNETT: Senator, is there any way in which you would vote for the GOP leadership bill because it is the bill out there and it is better than Obamacare.
PAUL: You know, I spoke with the president this week and I don't think we're that far off really. He's for repeal of Obamacare and so am I and so is every republican. But I did express with the president that I think separating repeal from replacement will get it done. And I think that's maybe the only vehicle for getting it done. And the reason I say that, there is still some disagreement on the specifics of the replacement. And I'll give you three or four different ones very quickly.
The Obamacare Lite that the house leadership is promoting keeps some subsidies but renames then refundable tax credit, keeps some Obamacare taxes, but I just don't think that's what we are stand for as republicans. But it also keeps subsidies to insurance companies and it keeps the form of the individual mandate. You have to pay the mandate to the insurance companies. Those four items do separate us and so I think we can kind of coming together but it will be on repeal bill probably with the replacement bill as separate vote.
BURNETT: All right. Senator, Paul, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
PAUL: Thank you.
BURNETT: OutFront now. Republican Congressman Greg Walden, he's the chairman of the house committee that oversees healthcare policies, the energy and commerce committee. And thank you for being with me, Congressman. Senator Paul not the only critic of your plan. Several members of the house of course have spoken out against it today. Are you sure that you have the votes in the house right now to pass it?
REP. GREG WALDEN, (R) ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You know I am. I think we're in very good shape. Especially as members actually have a chance to read the bill, you can do that at readthebill.gop. Everybody in America can read it. It's not that long. I think we struck the right balance, we're getting positive feedback as well. And so I'm confident as we go into our markup and the energy and commerce committee tomorrow and the ways and means committee tomorrow that we will move forward in a positive direction for the country and keep our promise to repeal, replace Obamacare with real meaningful modernization of Medicaid and the healthcare market.
BURNETT: I spoke to the director of the ratings agency (INAUDIBLE) today, he's analyzing your plan there. And he says overall, your plan will result in two to four million people losing coverage on the individual market. Almost all of them were over the age of 45. Another six to ten million who will lose under Medicaid expansion. These are older, poor and sicker people. Do you worry about the morality of this?
WALDEN: Well, let's go back to the facts of this and that is -- that takes an isolation our bill if nothing else was going to happen. Under the Affordable Care Act, some 1400 different authorities were delegated the secretary of Health And Human Services to affect this market in a positive way. Second, what we do know is the CBO projections when Obamacare passed were off a by about a two to one ratio of how many people have taken insurance --
BURNETT: We don't have any CBO projections for your bill. WALDEN: Let me finish. What -- the CBO said that there would be
twice as many people taking Obamacare insurance as there actually are and by the way, 54 percent of those who paid the penalty to the IRS or got a waiver under the age of 35 which is part of contributing to desk viral. So, we're trying to reform this market in a way it works for all Americans and gives them choices. Last year, there were 225 counties that had only one option for people.
This year is 1022. That means one out of every three counties in America, if you're a consumer looking for insurance on the exchange, you have one choice that's before Humana pulled out before, Aetna CEO said this market is in a death spiral. So we're trying to save this market. Get it back to where it works for the American people.
BURNETT: Now, I know, you know, I mean, look, SNP, they don't agree with you on the death spiral. Aetna obviously is a for-profit company. So there are other things there that they are considering in terms of probability. But what about the fundamental point though of people who are going to lose coverage? Especially in Medicaid expansion. And all on the sick, what are you going to do about those people?
WALDEN: Well, first of all, we have several support mechanisms for them. And the Ways And Means Committee you'll see coming forward. Tax advance, refundable tax credits, that means every month they basically get a tax support payment to help them cover the cost of insurance premiums. That's one. Two, there is a patient stability and state stability fund. We're going to Put $100 billion into over the next 10 years that allows states to come in and help those very people you've identified because we don't want to pull the rug out from under them.
But the bottom line is there isn't t going to be a market for anybody to buy insurance on the exchanges if we don't come in and fix it. And you can say one company is profitable or not, by the way, non-profits and profit-seeking companies are all pulling out of the exchange. That is an undeniable truth and something we've got to fix before it collapses.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time, Congressman, Walden.
WALDEN: Your welcome. Thank you.
BURNETT: And OutFront next, the U.S. deploying an anti-missile system against North Korea. We're going to show you exactly how it works. And the daughter of an undocumented immigrant speaks out. Her mother is told today she must leave the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't breathe. I was choked up. I couldn't talk at all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: New tonight. The Trump administration about to ask congress for a billion dollars for the border wall. The source telling CNN as it say, "down payment." Now of course the price tag has been put on, this anywhere from $15 to $25 billion. So that is indeed a mere down payment. It comes as immigration officials continued to round up immigrants that are here illegally. And tonight, in a story you'll see only on OUTFRONT, our Rosa Flores spent the day with an undocumented immigrant who we have been following on this program, a mother who has been in this country 18 years is now being ordered as of tonight to buy a one-way ticket back to Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Francisca Lino (ph) is physically ill hours before she checks in with her immigration officer fighting back tears at breakfast.
(on camera): She says that her biggest fear is that her daughter is going to get sick if she gets deported.
(voice-over): The mother of four U.S. born children has been showing up for regular check-ins with ICE for 12 years. But this is the first since Donald Trump has been in office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm feeling a little anxious but I'm confident.
FLORES (on camera): She says that she has faith.
(voice-over): While her entire family is in the U.S. legally. She is not. Francisca says she tried to use a fake visa nearly 20 years ago to enter the United States when she later applied for green card and previous use of phony document was discovered, she was detained.
Memories of the moment cripple her mother-in-law. Francisca was released after 28 days under the condition that she check-in with ICE regularly, a requirement for some low risk immigrants.
As she and her family make the 90 minute drive to downtown Chicago, the tension is rising. Her pastor waiting with a warning.
PASTOR EMMA LOZANO, LINCOLN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: They're acting very aggressive and out of character.
FLORES: Security guards ask us to turn off or camera, as Francisca walks inside with her attorney.
About an hour later, she emerges with a glowing smile after being told she can stay one more year. But moments later --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're calling her back in. Why?
FLORES: Confusion, then fear as ICE calls her back inside.
(on camera): Has this ever happened before.
CHRIS BERGIN, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: No, never, but we'll see. I think it will be fine.
FLORES (voice-over): Fighting back tears. Francisca walks into the federal building again.
BRITZY LINO, FRANCISCA'S DAUGHTER: I couldn't breathe. I was choked up. I couldn't talk at all.
FLORES: In a stunning turn, ICE tells her she is in fact being deported in July and must return to the ICE office with a ticket back to Mexico.
LINO: They call us back up and say no, you have a few months or something. It's not fair.
FLORES: Francisca's attorney says this is why undocumented immigrants are living in fear of President Trump's policies.
BERGIN: Under Obama, this wouldn't have happened. We would have -- this was the whole point of Obama's policy was discretion. You know, she's clearly not a danger to the community.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLORES: Now, CNN reached out to ICE and the agency says it's looking into Francisca's case. Meanwhile, Francisca says that she came out to shadows to show her face to share her name, to show the world that she is indeed not a threat to this community and far from it, Erin. She's a mom who is at this point hoping a miracle will keep her family intact -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Rosa, thank you.
OUTFRONT now, Jeff DeWit, Arizona state treasurer, and Kevin de Leon, the California Senate leader and a Democrat.
Thanks to you both.
Kevin, Francisca is here illegally. Obviously, though, she's been allowed to stay. As you saw, checking in with ICE agent for 12 years. You saw the moment today. She thought she could check in and they would say, come back in a year, as they have all the other years.
They called her back. No, she has to return in July with a one-way ticket to Mexico and leave her four children behind. What's your reaction?
STATE SEN. KEVIN DE LEON (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, Erin, tell you it's astonishing. It's quite shocking, because here you have a mother, a mother of four American-born children who's been in this nation, who's been part of this nation for more than 18 years, who was part of our workforce. And she has been checking in with ICE, with federal agents, very honestly, very transparently, crossing her T's, dotting her I's, and to some chicanery, we don't know why, but now, she is being asked to leave the country, and within a few months in July.
I can tell you this that, you know, President Trump campaigned during the past year on deporting the most hardened criminals, violent criminal felons. I doubt highly that Francisca is a hardened criminal. In fact, she's part of workforce. So, this is quite astonishing. And this is why there's so much fear,
there's so much panic, there's so much anxiety, especially among children, not just in Chicago or Illinois, but throughout the entire country. And I can tell you this, that President Trump is succeeding by sending shock and awe or by sowing the seeds of --
BURNETT: OK.
DE LEON: -- fear and anxiety and panic.
BURNETT: Jeff, what do you say?
[19:35:02] JEFF DEWIT (R), ARIZONA STATE TREASURER: Well, I say we are a nation of laws. And no one likes to see situations where people are separated or, you know, removed to the country where they're from. But again, we are a nation of laws.
And I think one of the real crimes here is that the federal government waited so long to enforce the laws that are on the book, making this so much more difficult for her. But again, we have -- we have to enforce the laws that are on the book, and by not doing so, we are asking American taxpayers to foot an enormous bill by not enforcing those laws.
So, let's remember that the president is in the executive branch. They carry out the laws. And what I say to everyone that is unhappy with these things is go, call your congressman, and change the laws. That's always something that can be done.
But to ask ICE or the president or anyone else not to enforce the laws is going about it in the wrong way. We have to enforce the laws in the books. These situations arise. And if someone is unhappy about them, the laws, they can obviously go and do what they can to change the laws.
BURNETT: To enforce for some, but not for others. I mean, Kevin, here's the thing. Francisca did commit a crime in the sense that she came in this country illegally. She used a fake visa. She hasn't become a citizen in the 18 years she's here. That's I guess the point Jeff is making.
Why is that OK for anyone, when you use the word discretion, that by definition means some people are going to get the good end of the stick and some are going to get the bad? How is that ever fair?
DE LEON: Well, Erin, I understand the perspective that John has with regards that we are a nation of laws. We have the right to protect our own sovereignty. There's no debate, there's no dispute about that.
But the reality is that Francisca has been a part of this nation for 18 years. She is part of our work force. And for the last 18 years, the Congress have yet to do their job by securing a comprehensive immigration reform package which supposedly or Francisca would have benefitted from. The fact we have millions of hard workers who are part of our
workforce, law-abiding, tax paying residents of the United States of America who have yet to normalize their situation.
Now, if you want to remove individuals for violent criminals, we all agree with that. Go ahead and do it, sooner rather than later. But when you have individuals who are part of our fabric of this great nation, this is quite un-American.
And I can tell you this, I asked a question where did conservative compassion go? I don't know if it came and went with George W. Bush. But this is not the America that I know.
BURNETT: So, Jeff, are you -- from your side of this. You know, she did the right thing. She came and showed up. You know, despite the political climate that she's in, she showed up meeting for her ICE agent, right? Her annual meeting.
I know it may sound bizarre to people that these things happen and they let you go, even though you're here illegally. I mean, the whole thing is broken and confusing.
But then gave her this news that she has to leave and leave her children. If immigration officials turned these routine visits into deportation meetings, isn't this just going to mean more people don't show up for them and more people go into shadows?
DEWIT: Well, let's remember she had submitted a financial crime previously. And so, when the legislation is there to prioritize those who committed crimes, she fell under that and there's no way around that.
So, you know, as much as you may call that an unfortunate situation, illegal immigrants are stealing identities of U.S. taxpayers and are causing enormous financial burdens for those which they do that to. So, you know, for every situation like that, I think about Kate Steinle who died in her father's arms with last words being "help me, dad". And as a dad of three daughters, those are the situations that I think of when she was killed by an illegal immigrant in a sanctuary city that so should have been deported and wasn't because those federal laws weren't enforced.
So, I'm very happy with have a president who is standing up for the American people to enforce the laws on the books.
BURNETT: All right. We're going to have pause there. Thank you both very much tonight.
DE LEON: Erin --
BURNETT: And, of course, we'll have you back as we do again, and, again, as this issue continues.
OUTFRONT next, the U.S. deploys missile defense system against a threat for North Korea. We're going to show you how it could shoot down a missile from Pyongyang. And Hillary Clinton speaking out today about her brutal loss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:42] BURNETT: Tonight, North Korea warning of war with the U.S. The threat following the U.S. military's decision to shift a powerful, new missile launcher series to South Korea. It's part of a new missile defense system that is designed to intercept missiles coming from Pyongyang. CNN also learning tonight that the Senate Intelligence Committee is being briefed on the North Korean situation, with four missile tests in the past day and a half.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
And, Tom, this is going to be crucial. A lot of attention. They ship this in the middle of the night, 50 miles from North Korean border. What can you tell us about it?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a state of the art array of tools here. Normally, this missile defense system consists of about nine vehicles, most of them missile launchers. But there are also a couple of command vehicles and an advanced radar system which both acquires the targets which the incoming missiles and guides these missile-killing missiles out to strike them.
So, what do these things look like? Well, each one would be about 20 feet long, weigh about 2,000 pounds. This would be the booster down here.
This gets it into flight and then it breaks off as it gets closer to the target, leaving with just this part of it. The front end has some advanced electronics in it, the shrouding will break off in flight as well, exposing an infrared seeker up here which will help guide it right to target. And then the control system down here helps push it into the final impact up there.
They call all of this the kill vehicle and its range is pretty impressive. It can go down range, for example, as it flies about 125 miles and 16 miles high to engage its target, Erin.
BURNETT: So, Tom, all that sounds good from a perspective, right?
FOREMAN: Sure.
BURNETT: Have they -- do they actually know how well it works? It doesn't have a warhead.
FOREMAN: It does not have a warhead. But, yes, they do know how well it works. This is how it works. Look at this video from military over here.
When this thing takes off, it goes up and it's simply trying to collide at a very high speed with the incoming missile, which itself will be traveling close to 4,000 miles an hour. And when they hit, that's what happens. It tears it apart. And military analyst say while this doesn't really work so well
against a great big ICBM against short range or intermediate range missiles like South Korea might be worried about from North Korea -- yes, it's got a good record -- Erin.
[19:45:01] BURNETT: All right. Tom, thank you very much.
OUTFRONT now, retired U.S. Army Major General Spider Marks. And he spent a lot of time in Korea.
North Korea, four missiles yesterday. How serious is this, right? I mean, we keep hearing this and there'll be times when they ratcheted up and they do more tests. We now know they have some dramatic new capabilities. How serious is it?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's a big concern. We need the pay attention to it. You know, over the course of many years, the one thing that we had that allowed us to -- the United States and coalition partners -- to feel safe on -- in South Korea is that the element of time was to our advantage. North Korea couldn't develop a nuke soon enough. Couldn't get it missile technology squared away.
We are running out of time, Erin. And the only thing standing between a nuclear North Korea and their ability to launch a nuclear weapon on a missile, married up with a missile is something a matter of time.
The National Intelligence Estimates are that by the year 2020, North Korea will have 100, I didn't stutter, 100 nuclear tipped missiles. That's two and a half years away. We must do something. We have an array of options and we've got to get to business.
BURNETT: And you think they will use them?
MARKS: Why would they not? Absolutely. This regime gains -- every minute this regime gains and expands its power in terms of the attention we pay to it. And there isn't enough money in the world to buy them off from continuing to advance. There have to be methods and processes that we put in place. They get them off this path.
BURNETT: All right. Well, we shall see. And, of course, the preemptive strike comes back on the table there as a possibility.
MARKS: Yes.
BURNETT: Thank you, General.
And OUTFRONT next: why more women running for a political office tonight?
Plus, Clinton's White House photo op. Jeanne Moos has this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:50:41] BURNETT: New tonight, Hillary Clinton with rare remarks about her loss to Donald Trump, urging young women to take action regarding their future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let us hope there is a wave of young women running for office in America.
(APPLAUSE)
And let's be sure we support them in every way we can.
(APPLAUSE)
Let's help them shatter stereotypes and lift each other up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And some women are already taking her advice.
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARISSE DANIELS, MERGE WISCONSIN PARTICIPANT: This is Watertown, Wisconsin, super small, rural, but really quaint and cute.
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this district that help swing Wisconsin red lives Charisse Daniels, married mom of four, juggling children and a career. No longer contend as citizen now moving to candidate.
(on camera): What office do you aspire to?
DANIELS: For me, I think mayor would be my highest dream.
LAH: Did election night make you want to run for office?
DANIELS: Absolutely. Yes. I felt devastated.
LAH: How many of you are here today because of the election?
Everybody. Almost everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hearing from everybody else makes me think we're really on the fence.
LAH (voice-over): Channeling the energy of the nationwide women's marches, these women are training to run for the first time for office, from fund raising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How we're getting the money and where it's coming from.
LAH: To drills.
DANIELS: My name is Charisse. I'm running for mayor of Watertown.
LAH: Learning how to campaign in the red state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. But what party are you really with?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a member of the Democratic Party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democratic Party, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ERIN FORREST, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EMERGE WISCONSIN: After Election Day, immediately, the applications started spiking.
LAH: Exponentially says a nonprofit Emerge operating in 18 states from deep blue California to red Wisconsin. Their class size here doubled. Democratic women hoping to flip the state back to blue.
(on camera): Was it personal?
FORREST: Deeply personal. It hurts the American people decided that something or some combination of things were more important than us, than women. We live in a representative democracy, right? And women are more than half of the population and a quarter of elected officials. That's a problem.
STATE REP. MELISSA SARGENT, WISCONSIN: I never imagined that I would be a state legislator.
LAH: Wisconsin State Representative Melissa Sargent, an Emerge graduate, dove into public life after Republican Governor Scott Walker's election. Now, she's watching women nationally react to President Trump.
(on camera): Did you need that push?
SARGENT: I would say I did. I think that oftentimes women will second guess themselves. And women will question whether they can balance running for office with being a parent.
JENNA JACOBSON, RUNNING FOR LOCAL OFFICE: My name is Jenna Jacobson.
LAH (voice-over): Jenna Jacobson marks the day after Trump's inauguration.
LAH (on camera): Was that march enough?
JACOBSON: Oh, no.
LAH (voice-over): Taking her next step, Jacobson is now running for local office in the town of Oregon, Wisconsin.
LAH (on camera): I you're in office, will you have President Trump to thank? In some part?
JACOBSON: Sure. I mean, I don't know that I would have gotten involved if he hasn't been elected. Maybe I'll write him a thank you note. Probably not. I'm really bad at those. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I mean, Kyung, it's pretty fascinating. You obviously went to a Trump state. But is this something happening in other states, you know, maybe not like Wisconsin where it was such a close race?
LAH: It's happening in all the states that Emerge is operating in. They say this year, their numbers are much higher. They have approximately 500 women just this year who are going through training classes who they hope will eventually run for office. And Emerge is just one of the many agencies we spoke with. There are others doing it.
And, Erin, they say it works. Emerge says approximately 60 percent of women who go through training to run for office win.
BURNETT: Wow, amazing.
All right. Kyung Lah, thank you very much.
And next, picture this, Hillary Clinton's role on today's White House tour. Jeanne Moos is on the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:04] BURNETT: Hillary Clinton looking over President Trump's shoulder today. Literally. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS: When you go on a White House tour, it's always possible you'll run into the guy who lives there. A group of mostly kids went nuts when the president popped out from behind a partition, but you know who you wouldn't expect to meet, Hillary Clinton, but there she was, the Twitter verse noticed, "Hillary photo bombed POTUS. Hilarious. This one is for your SNL."
It was more than a dozen years ago that Hillary unveiled her portrait that joined those of other first ladies. Now, Hillary is haunting President Trump. Someone changed the cable news banner to read, "Trump claims Clinton is spying on him." "Shhh, that's where Obama's bug is hidden."
Meanwhile, the real Hillary getting an award from a girl's organization in New York City.
CLINTON: I've had my ups and my downs.
MOOS: She's up all right, on the wall, and President Trump was gesturing for ten-year-old Jack Cornish from a Christian school in Alabama to come pose with him.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Work hard, everybody, work hard.
MOOS: But Jack didn't just smile for the camera. He made a circle with his fingers. Prompting the question, "What sign is the kid throwing up?" Maybe he was imitating one of the president's favorite hand gestures or perhaps it was just an old fashioned okay.
Through it all, Hillary smiled.
The moral of the story, you never know who is lurking over your shoulder. At least Hillary didn't give the president the cold shoulder. Or worse yet, leap off the wall.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right. Thank you so much for joining us.
"AC360" begins right now.
