Condemnation right now for its use of force against the protesters. From the Trump Administration, a strong statement of support, the white house saying that hamas is responsible for the deaths and israel has a right to defend itself. U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations nikki haley weighed in on this just moments ago. Those who suggest that the gaza violence has anything to do with the location of the American Embassy are sorely mistaken. Rather the violence comes from those who reject the existence of the state of israel in any location. Such a motivation, the destruction of a United Nations member state, is so illegitimate, as to not be worth our time in the Security Council other than the time it takes it denounce it. Yesterdays opening of our embassy in jerusalem is a cause for celebration for the american people. Moving the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem was the right thing to do. Cnns Senior International correspondent ben wedeman is now live for us along the edge of the protests in gaza. Ben is joining me now, what are you seeing there now . Well, actually, today, kate, it seems to be a smaller crowd, im going to step out of the way so you get a better look, much smaller crowd than yesterday. What youre seeing in the background is burning tires, there have been regular overflights by israeli drones that are dropping tear gas canisters on the crowd, but by and large, much smaller. We did hear reports earlier today of one 50yearold palestinian dying. That was apparently if gunshots yesterday. I think after yesterdays death toll of at least 60 people, there is more focus on the fun ra ra funer erals that took place last night. They mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of israel. It is important to keep in mind that hamas didnt exist back then and the grievances that drive the people here predate hamas. Hamas certainly has played a role in encouraging people to come out and demonstrate, but given that this is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of israel, regardless of whether the u. S. Embassy was inaugurated yesterday in jerusalem or not, there would have been protests probably of this size in this period, in this month of may. Ben, youve been covering this conflict for decades. Does this round, does this moment seem different . Reporter i think it is different in that we are now in a situation where the palestinians issue, the palestinian cause has largely been sidelined. The saudis, for instance, who were traditionally supporters of the palestinian cause made it clear that their main concern in the region is iran. Other arab countries are too busy with their own wars, economic woes, political instability to really provide any even lip service. Thats really much of what it has been over the last decades for the palestinian cause. Palestinians do feel they have been abandoned. You have an administration in washington that has come down very clearly on the side of israel. And many feel that this is the only way to remind the world that this issue has yet to be resolved. Since 1967, there has been a military occupation of the west bank and east jerusalem, that gaza is essentially surrounded by israel, sealed off, some people call it an open arab prison and therefore the grievances are deeply felt and the feeling is among many palestinians is that the world has forgotten them, traditional allies have abandoned them and they have nothing else to do but what you see behind me. Ben wedeman, great to see you, thank you so much. Joining me now to continue the discussion, cnn military and diplomatic analyst, retired rear admiral john kirby, served as spokesman for the state and defense departments under president obama. Great to see you. Thank you for coming in. Lets talk about the u. S. Response here. President s democratic and republicans alike, they have supported israels right s s to defend itself. Do you think this is different. To bens point, they have come down very, very hard on the side of israel, every administration as you rightly pointed out agrees that israel has a right to defend itself. We helped them defend themselve and with good reason. It is a dangerous neighborhood they live in, no question about that. This time around we have so heavily put our thumb on the scale in the favor of israel and this conflict that we removed ourselves from any credible position of trying to help negotiate or be an arbiter for some sort of solution going forward. And ben is right, the palestinians have long felt that they have been completely ignored now and maybe through the protests theyll try to advance some visibility here, but it is very hard to see how we get any where closer to a twostate solution based on what the Trump Administration has decided to do with respect to israel. Where the white house putting all of the blame squarely on hamas, their words, where do you think that leaves palestinians from here . I think it probably further alienates the palestinians. There is no question hamas has an interest here. And although i havent seen the intelligence, i would absolutely have no problem believing that hamas was helping to at least inspire or organize some of this protest activity, certainly within their wheel house and said what they believe their interests are. We have done we, International Community, have done nothing to necessarily try to stem that this angst, the grievances, or try to successfully bring to a close the tension between israel and palestine. And i do believe that israel has a special responsibility to protect its citizens, but also, kate, has a special responsibility to restrain itself and use minimal force when trying to deal with the threats they face. They are clearly the most powerful nation in that part of the world. And thats where the uk and france landed on this. They have been particularly critical of israels use of and uk calling for an independent investigation, independent investigation here. Is that Just Lip Service because is that hikely to go anywhere considering where the u. S. Lands on this . I doubt seriously that it will go anywhere, certainly if they use the u. N. To try to get there, the United States will be no doubt about that. Remember 2014, gaza war, and how aggressively the israelis went after People Living in gaza, under the guise, the community condemned them for that and further isolated israel. If theyre not careful in these protests here, what were seeing now, they could be marching down that exact same road. The only difference would be that the United States would not be among the International Community in terms of condemning them and further isolates even the u. S. From the rest of the world. And these are not easy times. Not the understatement of the year saying that this is not an easy conversation because, of course, in 2014, they also said that hamas was hiding among the population, specifically trying to hiding weapons and hospitals and schools in order to put themselves where the civilians were. Thats exactly right. None of this is an easy conversation. But an important one as we watch the protests play out again. Great to see you. Coming up, well hear from President Trump during a rare trip to capitol hill. Thats to begin any moment now. Well bring you the remarks live as soon as they begin from the president. The president walking in to this very important Memorial Ceremony that is happening on the front of the capitol. Also this were watching at this moment, First Lady Melania Trump recovering from a kidney procedure. The president tweets out when she may be released from the hospital. Dr. Sanjay gupta joins us with the latest on this. At tmobile, we dont just see uniforms. We see the people behind them. So were committed to helping veterans through job training when their service ends. And to hiring 10,000 veterans and military spouses to be part of our workforce in the next 5 years. Because no matter where you serve. Or when you serve. Tmobile stands ready to serve you. So we provide halfoff on all family lines for military. When it comes to travel, i sweat the details. Late checkout. Downalternative pillows. And of course, price. Tripadvisor helps you book a. Hotel without breaking a sweat. Because we now instantly. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. And taking cared abof the boys. E zach talk to me. Its for the house. I got a job. Its okay. Dad took care of us. Liberty mutual saved us almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. Liberty did what . Yeah, they saved us a ton, which gave us a little wiggle room in our budget. I wish our insurance did that. Then we could get a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey, welcome back. This guy, right . laughs yes. Ellen. Thats my robe. You could save 782 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. If you have moderate to thsevere rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. Ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion. Humira can help stop the clock. Prescribed for 15 years, humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Help stop the clock on further irreversible joint damage. Talk to your rheumatologist. Right here. Right now. Humira. My ci can worry about it,ine. Or do something about it. Garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. And its odor free. And pharmacist recommended. Garlique. ® if you follow donald trump during the campaign at all, you knew at least one thing, he was obsessed with polls. Fantastic polls. Highly respected polls. The polls have been fantastic. Were leading in so many polls, he cant tell you, i dont know where to begin. I love polls when im winning. I dont believe the polls anymore. I dont believe them. It is a rigged system. They put out phony polls. I dont like being second. Second is terrible, to me. Thats right. He loved the polls when he was up, hated the polls when he was down and now donald trump feels it turns up exactly the same, it appears, about leaks. Happy to tout them when they help. This just came out, wikileaks, i love wikileaks. Another one came in today, this wikileaks is look a treasure trove. I will tell you this, russia, if youre listening, i hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. But then just as happy to trash and discount them when they dont help him. I think it is very, very unfair what has happened to general flynn, the way he was treated and the documents and papers that were illegally, i stress that, illegally, leaked. Very, very unfair. And now to the president s tweet du jour. It is like a mixed metaphor wrapped up in a walking contradiction. The socalled leaks out of the white house are a massive overexaggeration put out by the fake news media. We will find out who they are. In summary, hes going to hunt down the very people behind the leaks even though what theyre leaking is not real. We have got it. So, where do they go from here . Cnns Kaitlan Collins is joining me from the white house. You have some new reporting on this very issue and how it happens in the white house, leaks. Reporter thats right, kate. The white house is trying to frame this mccain remark as a leaking problem inside the white house. But as we have reported, extensively over the last 16 months, the Trump Administration has gone to Great Lengths to stop these leaks from happening to no avail. One of those efforts is from the chief of staff john kelly who instituted this personal cell phone ban back in january. In a memo, letting staffers know about this ban, john kelly said this was not to prevent them from speaking to reporters, but to for the National Security reasons, of course, most staffers inside this white house did not see it this way. The way theyre carrying out this ban is they have installed lockers at entrances into the west wing where staffers put their phone in a locker, lock it up and leave it there, for the remainder of the day. Sources inside the white house tell me you can often see staffers huddled around the lockers, checking their phones and when the staffers arent there, these lockers are constantly buzzing and chirping with alerts from the staffers cell phones. This is not a ban based on the honor system. They have two men dressed in suits who periodically will go throughout west wing, conducting a sweep to find unauthorized nongovernment issued phones throughout the west wing. These devices, that these men have going from room to room too to room have been described to me as largely accurate and can detect what kind of cell phone it is in the room, apple iphone or samsung galaxy, whatever. That is how theyre trying to find people who have their personal phones throughout west wing because they think it is going to be a way to tamp down on the leaks. But, of course, as is evidence by kelly sadlers remark, the stopping the use of personal cell phones in the west wing is not stopping staffers from telling reporters what is going on behind closed doors. Now, this has been a source of great frustration lately here in the white house. Of course, the president tweeting yesterday he believes leakers are traitors and Kellyanne Conway saying she believes people will be fired over this. Some leaks exist to hurt, i guess, colleagues. Some leaks exist because they disagree with the policies that are being put forth. But none of them are helpful. It is not so much leaking as using the media to shiv each other. You expect personnel changes as a result . I do. Actually, yes, i do. Reporter so the white house is framing this as a leaking problem. But the bottom line is dozens of senior white house officials who work in this white house behind me talked to reporters throughout the day. The president himself even talks to reporters and it is a way that reporters find out whats going on behind closed doors in the west wing to tell the american people. Kaitlan, great reporting, thank you so much. Keep your cell phone close. Were going to remind everyone, were keeping our eye on capitol hill. President trump is set to speak at a ceremony any minute now. The president will after this ceremony, that well be bringing you his remarks live. After that, hell be walking, making the short walk into the capitol, staying there to have lunch with Senate Republicans. When he does, republicans, it sounds like, have a lot to say. It has been six days since the white house staffer mocked their Senate Colleague senator john mccain over his health and the white house refusing a public apology. Sunlen serfaty joins me now. Some republicans arent mincing words at this point when it comes to how the white house handled all of this. Reporter thats right, kate. Theyre not happy and theyre being very vocal in their criticism of the white house over this. The fact this is a long time colleague of theirs, theyre fiercely loyal of somebody notably battling brain cancer, some many coming to mccains defense and offering up fierce criticism of the white house. You have multiple senators, notable, many members of the Senate Republican leadership, openly saying that the white house should make sure that President Trump apologized, saying this language is appropriate, senator thune saying that. It would have been nice if the white house nipped this earlier and it came out and offered a public apology rather than letting this faster for now. Six days we heard from senator collins who talked to my colleague, manu raju this morning, he said she said, look, the responsibility here is on President Trump, he should come out and say this is not acceptable rather than just criticizing the leaker as kaitlan said there, a lot of emphasis from the white house, and the fallout over this controversy has been on the leaks and not over the specifics of the criticism. This meeting is behind closed doors, interesti ing to see how forceful the republicans call out President Trump when hes actually in the room with them. I think a lot of the sentiment we will hear today from those republicans is, like is, look, this is someone who deserves our respect and despite differences you have with him, we should make that clear. Well see if there are any changes from the white house. Youre also reporting that republicans plan to push the president on another issue, what he really means when he tweets out that he wants to help the Chinese Company zte get back into business. What are you hearing about that . Reporter a lot of questions and concerns about the president ial tweets. A lot of senators demanding to know more about what exactly President Trump means when hes tweeting about these easing of restrictions. We heard from senator cornyn yesterday who said ill ask about this at the lunch immediating tode imeeting today. They were not aware of it. They want clarity and a lot of ratcheting up the alarms from senator rubio saying it would be a mistake and he says this runs counter to every conversation hes ever had with President Trumpclearly a lot of questions from the president s own party today. Well be watching that and bring it to you when it begins. Joining us now, editor at large, Chris Cillizza and Julie Hershfield Davis of the new york times. What is in a leak . A leak by any other name would smell so sweet. Traitor, my friend. I dont remember that going that way in my english class, but well roll with it, kate. Yeah, look, you had it exactly right at the top. Leaks that work for president are good, leaks that make him look bad or he thinks dont accurately portray the white house, he hates. It is a classic double standard, not new for this white house, donald trump has double standards on lots of things. I would argue this, if you want to know why there is a leaking culture in the white house, look at the guy who sits in the oval office. Donald trump is someone ill remind people in the 1980s, made up a pr executive named john miller, who allegedly worked in the Trump Organization and called the gossip tabloids in new york to talk about how virile, how successful donald trump was. It is hard to keep the president s aliases together, but the point is that that doesnt stop, kate, that sense of trying to manipulate the media, doing selective leaking of information to make you look better. He does this. There is a culture of it, and he gets mad at it. But hes the cause. Lets be really lets be honest and real here. Youve covered the hill and washington for years. You no he if anyone is leaking, congress is leaking like a siv, thats the best branding they could ask for. Does that mean theyre all traitors . Trump is talking about, calling them traitors, his own staff in this tweet. The tweet is sort of, like, you know that typical, the food in this restaurant is horrible and the portions are so small. Hes complaining about this phenomenon while hes also trying to disprove whats being said. So if it is not true, if you know the material that folks are telling reporters and were all putting in the paper and on tv isnt right, it is not really a leak, right . It is a lie. Hes not saying that. Hes basically saying what chris and you were both alluding to, that, you know, this is damaging to him, he doesnt like it. If it helps him, he does like it. I do think that, you know, when Kellyanne Conway gave some of the reasons for the leaks, shes right. People are trying to shiv each other. It is the case that this is not really something that a president can control. My colleagues and i did some reporting earlier this week earlier this year about nondisclosure agreements. It doesnt fly when youre dealing with government. So you have to set up a culture where people think there are consequences and that doesnt exist in this white house. Im hoping for some leaks out of the senate lunch today if i could hope for one thing today. Republicans, they say they have had a lot of questions for donald trump. Especially in his position on the chinese telecon company zte. A top official testified about continued National Security concerns, asked if he would use a zte phone, he said he would not. How can the president then say he wants to help zte get up and running . The way he does a lot of things, just say it, facts be damned, thats just the case. How can he say he had the largest inauguration crowd ever . Same reason. You can just say it and there is a certain number of people who believe it. I dont think he differentiates. The thing i think will be interesting is what we have seen a lot of out of Congressional Republicans is a tut tut, i wish he wouldnt do that, whether thats kelly sadler, zte, the millions of other things s he said that they have taken issue with but there is no follow through. There is no next step. The president said this, and i feel satisfied or the president didnt and were going to take x, y or z legislative action. Remember, congress is a coequal branch of the government. Republicans run congress. They dont act like it, though they talk as though theyre going to be a check on donald trump. On this issue, so you got the Intel Community undermining the president s tweet and then there is his own chief economic adviser larry kudlow telling axios that zte in his view is divorced from the trade issue, the trade story. Then kudlow is undermining the other element of how the president is kind of making out this zte issue. So what now . Well, it is head spinning. I think one of the reasons you hear the concern that youre hearing from capitol hill is, this is not some sort of, you know, question in peoples mind, if this is a good company or bad company. This company violated sanctions. This is and the president s tweets seem to come out of nowhere as so many of his tweets do. People are starting to wonder and this is different than the mccain comment situation, they may talk a lot but not do much, i do think lawmakers will start to put their foot down and say, you know this is what is the reason that hes changing his position on this, if there is some development that is going on in the talks between american officials and chinese officials, we need to know what that is. Chris, julie, great to see you, thank you. Thank you, kate. Coming up for us, the president says Melania Trump will spend the rest of the week in the hospital recovering from her procedure. Benin kidney condition. Dr. Sanjay gupta joins us next to discuss. Hey we didnt have a homeowners claim last year so allstate is giving us money back on our bill. Well, that seems fair. We didnt use it. Wish we got money back on gym memberships. Get money back hilarious. With claimfree rewards. Switching to allstate is worth it. If yor crohns symptoms are holding you back, and your Current Treatment hasnt worked well enough, it may be time for a change. Ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohns. Entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. Infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. Entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. Pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. This condition has not been reported with entyvio. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flulike symptoms or sores. Liver problems can occur with entyvio. If your uc or crohns treatment isnt working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. Entyvio. Relief and remission within reach. If youd have told me three years ago. That wed be downloading in seconds, what used to take. Minutes. That guests would compliment our wifi. That we could video conference. And do it like that. snaps if youd have told me that i could afford. A gigspeed. A gigspeed network. Its like 20 times faster than what most people have. Id of said. Id of said youre dreaming. Dreaming definitely dreaming. Then again, dreaming is how i got this far. Now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. First Lady Melania Trump is recovering from a kidney procedure. Her office says her kidney condition is benign, thankfully, but it required medical attention. A short time ago, President Trump tweeted this. Great first lady is doing really well, well be leaving hospital in two or three days. Thank you for so much love and support. Joining me now with the very latest on this is cnn White House Reporter kate bennett. What are they telling you today . I just got an update from stephanie grisham, first ladys communications director, she said the first lady is doing well and resting comfortably. She released a statement to me, i can read it to you hear. I pushed for some more information about her condition and this was the response i got. Aim not going to expand beyond the statement i put out. The first lady is in good spirits and she is resting. There are hipaa laws to consider, but she also deserves personal privacy. Thats very true. And we wish her a speedy and healthy recovery. However, the length and duration of stay for this procedure, which, again, is a benign kidney procedure, seemed a little bit long according to medical experts, she would stay for the duration of the week, which sparked more questions and clearly is not something the first ladys office is going to address. Im not surprised by that. They are incredibly private. Shes very private. Unlike the president who tweets at will and says whatever is on his mind to a large degree, his wife is very much the opposite and the fact that they actually pulled off this surgery for the first lady of the United States basically under cloak of secrecy is Pretty Amazing when you consider what is happening on the other side of the building there at the white house. Very different approaches. Thats for sure. The president , we know, of course, visited the first lady in the hospital last night. Is he planning another visit, kate . I imagine that he will visit her again today. We dont know that for sure. We dont know that as part of his official schedule. But i wouldnt be surprised if the president did make another trip to walter reed and probably did so as stealthily as he possibly could. I think this is part of the reason he wasnt there yesterday for the procedure itself, with the president comes more baggage, if you will, a larger security detail, a press pool that needs to travel with him. Motorcade, marine one, however he chooses to get there, i think, again, the first lady is trying to keep her privacy, get some rest, and recoup without the hubbub and a lot of the accouterment that come with the president when he was might have been at the request of the first lady to not bring all of that along. Great to see you. Thanks so much. Joining me now to discuss this little bit more is cnn chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. Sanjay, the president with his tweet this morning said that the first lady is going to be leaving the hospital in two to three days. What do you think of the fact she is staying in the hospital for the rest of the week . It is a little surprising and doesnt gibe with what shes had done. I think everyone said this now. I talk to a lot of different people who perform this procedure and asked them about this. We looked at the data in terms of how long people stay after this type of procedure, which, again, was an embolization procedure to the kidney. People go home the same day, kate. Sometimes people are worried about pain or something, they may keep patients overnight. Whether this was done out of an abundance of caution and admittedly, shes the first lady, so things are maybe a little different with her, or is there Something Else still that shes going to have done while in the hospital, we just dont know at this point. But to answer your question, it is unusual. Most patients would go home same day or next day. Real quick, sanjay, first ladys office just put out that statement to kate that says there are hipaa laws to consider. Isnt correct me if im wrong, when it comes to hipaa, doesnt the patient control the information . Patient does control the information. Just as the president did before, President Trump authorized his doctors to give out some information about his health, that is then approved and alolowed and permitted. If the first lady wanted to do that, hipaa violation would be somebody knows Something Like one of her doctors and is talking without her permission. With embolization procedure she had, does it often require followup . What youre doing is trying to block the blood vessels in a certain part of the body, an organ, the kidney. Sometimes when youre in the hospital, you can do what is called an angiogram to figure out did it work. Did those blood vessels get blocked. If there is concern later on, they may need a followup angiogram, where youre not injecting glue or anything, just injecting some dye and making sure that there is no blood flow to that area anymore. Is this often associated with pain ahead of time . I ask because in the past week, the first lady held a lot of public events, so i was wondering if she was suffering before this procedure. One thing i guess to just say again is that we dont still know what it is. What exactly it is. What i will tell you is there is two reasons that this would probably come to surgery, one is that someone is having pain, and the pain is usually because the whatever it is may be starting to bleed a bit. And that might require the embolization. Or it could be that they saw this months ago, this abnormality, and have been following it along with serial scans and on one of the scans it changed. It grew or it changed somehow and they said, okay, you know what, now it is time to address this thing. So that would be a much more planned sort of procedure. Yeah, and while there are clearly a lot of questions still, one thing not in question is everyones wish that the first lady have a speedy and healthy recovery. Thank you. Great to see you. Thank you. Coming up, well hear from President Trump during a rare trip to capitol hill, well bring you his remarks live. Youre taking a live look now at the annual National Police officers memorial service. It is under way. New reports that Vice President mike pence is stepping out of his lane and team trump is not entirely thrilled about that. Thats next. For all the eyes that get itchy and watery near pollen. Theres flonase sensimist. It relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. Allow you to take advantage of growth opportunities. With a level of protection in down markets. So you can be less concerned about your retirement savings. Talk with your advisor about shield annuities from Brighthouse Financial established by metlife. Approaching medicare eligibility . You may think you can put off checking out your Medicare Options until youre sixtyfive, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. Keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. The rest is up to you. Thats where aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plans insured by Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company come in. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, they could help pay some of what medicare doesnt, saving you in outofpocket medical costs. Youve learned that taking informed steps along the way really makes a difference later. Thats what it means to go long™. Call now and request this free decision guide. Its full of information on medicare and the range of aarp Medicare Supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. All plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients, and there are no network restrictions. Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company has over thirty Years Experience and the commitment to roll along with you, keeping you on course. So call now and discover how an aarp Medicare Supplement plan could go long™ for you. These are the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an Organization Serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. Plus, nine out of ten plan members surveyed say they would recommend their plan to a friend. Remember, medicare doesnt cover everything. The rest is up to you. Call now, request your free decision guide and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. Go long™. All right, youre taking a live look at the capitol at the National Police officer memorial service. Donald trump is getting set to speak. Lets listen . Felt like a target instead of guardians of the peace. We are targeted by scorn, by disrespect, and by all too often violence. We have come to learn that we cannot always count on elected leadership in our country to have our back. But mr. President , you have never wavered. Your constant support of Law Enforcement, your deep commitment to keeping our nation safe, our community safe, and our officers safe is deeply felt and we could not be more grateful. Your presence here today sets examples we hope others will follow. The Senate Version of our bill has been introduced by senator orrin hatch and senator heitkamp who both were invited but were unable to attend for the dais. Senator heitkamp is an escort for the north dakota officer. Thank you, senator, for being with us. These attacks on Law Enforcement must stop. Enough is enough. In pledging to protect and serve, they willingly place themselves in harms way. But now, all too often harm seeks them out. Mr. President , on the campaign trail you made many promises to Law Enforcement and commitments about Public Safety and you have delivered on every one of them. You have done what you said, and together we will continue to keep our country safe. Brothers and sisters, survivor families, distinguished guests, please help me welcome the president of the United States, donald j. Trump. [ applause ] thank you very much, chuck. I want to start by saying that melania is in the hospital doing really well, shes watching us right now. And i want to thank the incredible doctors, walter reed medical center, they did a fantastic job. So thank you and she sends her love. I also want to thank jim pasc l pascell, linda haney and everyone at the fraternal order of police and all you could to ensure our brave people that were so proud of, we are honored to have these cherished officers and were honored to have all of you with us today. And it is my great honor to be here for the second time and ill see you, i guess, about another six times and then after that perhaps perhaps youll have had enough. We stand with our police and we stand with you, 100 . I think we have shown that. Vice president pence, members of my cabinet, members of congress, and distinguished guests, thank you for joining us on one of the most important and solemn occasions of the year. The day we pay tribute to Law Enforcement heroes, and thats what they are. Heroes, who gave their lives in the line of duty. They made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live in safety and in peace. To the families and survivors with us this morning, i know today is filled with sadness and pain. But today is also filled with love, the love of an entire nation wrapped its arms and they have wrapped their arms right around you, they love you. Theyre praying for you. Theyre grieving with you. And pledging to you that we will never forget our heroes, ever. And thank you. Thank you. You know what i mean. You know what i mean. Theyre looking down and theyre proud of you and they love you so much, thank you. This morning i especially want to speak to the young sons and daughters who join us here today. I want you to know that your moms and dads were among the bravest americans to ever live. When danger came, when darkness fell, when destruction loomed, they did not flinch. They were not afraid. They did not falter. They stared down danger raced down alleys, chased down criminals, kicked down doors, and faced down evil. Brave. And they did it all with courage, with dignity, with pride, with love for their nation and with love for their families. They lived every day of their lives by that most sacred calling, to serve and protect. Their immortal legacy lives on in each and every one of you, their strength lives in your soul, their courage glows in your heart and their blood flows in your veins and today every american heart bleeds blue. [ applause ] thats for sure. This morning, i want to share with you the american people, a few stories about the heroes we have dpagathered to celebrate a remember. With us today is the family of lieutenant aaron alan, special. Of the south Port Police Department in indiana. His wife stacy and his two sons t. J. And aaron, where are they . Where are they . Where are they . Yes. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. Lieutenant alan was an air force veteran. After his service he followed his childhood dream to become a police officer. He served in Law Enforcement for 20 years, no job was too great, he took extra shifts at night and he was always available. He stopped by to say hello to members of his community. During christmastime, he took children in need shopping for presents. He was always there for anybody that needed him. In 2015, he was given the officer of the year award after saving two lives. Last year lieutenant alan walked his son to the bus for his first day of kindergarten. Just hours later, lieutenant alan was shot and killed in the line of duty. Since then the whole Southport Community has come together to support the alan family, and i hear that if you go to the police station, youll find that sixyearold aaron jr. , and hes up there and hes giving orders, and he is respected and loved by everybody there. And his father was a true hero. To stacy, t. J. And aaron, today all of america sends you our love and our support. Alan will live in our hearts forever. Thank you. [ applause ] incredible man. Today we are also joined by savannah and Isaiah Hartfield along with their amazing mom veronica. Where are you . Where are you . Thank you. Thank you. We honor their father and husband, officer Charles Hartfield of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department. As many of you remember, officer hartfield was off duty attending a concert with veronica when that horrible shooting began in las vegas last october. Officer hartfield, an army veteran, immediately leapt into action, rescuing the wounded and shielding the innocent. You all read about it. I remember it so well. As he did, he was shot and killed by rounds of gunfire. He knew he was right in the path and it made no difference. He gave his life so that countless others could live. Savannah and isaiah, your dad was a Guardian Angel to those in need. Now he is keeping watch on you from heaven. Very special family and a very special man. Thank you. Thank you very much. [ applause ] also here with us today is the family of Border Patrol agent rojelio martinez from el pass o paso, texas. Agent martinez worked on the dangerous part of the southern border, a part youve been reading about so much lately and a part were doing a lot with. Agent martinez took immense pride and joy in serving his country as a Border Patrol agent. He was extremely proud of what he did. Every day he would go to work and risk his life to keep america safe. Roger said he wanted to prevent terrorists and drugs from coming into our country. We all do. Were going to get it done. But thats exactly what he did. He bravely confronted the cartels, the smugglers, the human traffickers, the gangs that threaten our communities. One night last november, agent martinez died in the line of du duty. It was horrific. It was violent. And he was brave. To agent martinez mom, elivah, his son sergio and the entire martinez family, rogers profound and unselfish love of country is an inspiration to every american, everybody here, everybody here and to me, i can tell you, a great inspiration. Thank you. [ applause ] we will always remember agent martinez, and we will honor his noble sacrifice by continuing his vital mission. The first duty of government is to protect our citizens and the men and women of dhs are on the front lines of this incredible, heroic fight. That is why we are calling on congress to secure our borders, support our border agents, stop sanctuary cities and shut down policies that release violent criminals back into our communities. We dont want it any longer. Weve had it. Enough is enough. [ applause ] recently ms13 gang members called for the assassination of new york city Police Officers so the gang could, quote, take back the streets. They got it wrong. We are the ones who are taking back the streets. We are getting them out of our country by the thousands. Every week were setting new records on we have a catch and release program, too. We catch them and release them back in the country they came from. Were getting them out. Or were putting them in prison. The Trump Administration has a policy, and its very clear. We will protect those who protect us and who do such a great job in protecting us. That is why, as i promised all along, that we are allowing local police to access the surplus military equipment they need to protect our officers and Law Enforcement agents and save their lives. And they are taking equipment at a record clip. Millions and millions of dollars of surplus equipment is going to our police departments. We want to bring down violent crime, then we must stand up for our police. We must confront and condemn dangerous antipolice prejudice. Can you believe this prejudice with respect to our police . Were not going to let bad things happen to our police. So we must show appreciation, gratitude and respect for those who police our streets and patrol our communities. In 2016, an officer was assaulted in america on an average of every 10 minutes. Can you believe that . Its outrageous and its unacceptable. We must end the attacks on our police, and we must end them right now. We believe criminals [ applause ] we believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty. Bring it forth. One of the most alarming crimes taking place against our police are ambush attacks. Think of that. Ambush attacks. I have directed the Justice Department to do everything in its power to defend the lives of american Law Enforcement. We are honored to be joined today by the family of detective miositis familia. Detective familia was