i saw some this morning with kids of aluminum foil blankets over them, really disturbing stuff. you look at the pictures and it humanizes the immigration debate. but we just show the news from bob. if they want to kill immigration reform legislation, he can. if house republicans want to to kill it, they can. no matter how stories we get, that is the story of the immigration saga. right now there s still no sign it s going anywhere. it s interesting how the story goes. i saw the explanation there s been a surge of folks over the border now. congress has almost got an little bit of a reprieve in terms of its inaction over immigration because during the recession when the economy was doing terribly, immigration over the border generally declined because people weren t feeling great about coming here.
president obama says his administration will get to the bottom of reports that dozens of veterans died while waiting for medical appointments at a veteran s hospital in arizona. the moment we heard about the allegations around these 40 individuals who had died in phoenix, i immediately ordered the secretary of veterans affairs to investigate. we also have an ig investigation taking place and so we take the allegations very seriously. the president says he wants to ensure that not a single u.s. veteran lacks the help he or she needs. congress is back in town after a two-week vacation. there are plenty of things to do in this, an election year, but there are real doubts about what if anything will get done. among the items on the docket, a short term spending bill to keep the government operating after october 1st. immigration reform legislation of some kind.
he was very mindful of the plight of so many immigrants who are wonderful people working hard, making contributions, many of their children are u.s. citizens and, yet, they still live in the shadows, in many cases, have been deported and are separated from families. the pope lobbying the president. the president further explained in that press conference that he told the pope in their recent meeting that he still believes that there s a chance that the u.s. congress could pass immigration reform legislation. remember, it s already passed the senate. just needs to come up for a vote in the house. the president says he still thinks it is possible john boehner might do that. nobody else seems to think that is possible. one democratic congressman who s worked intensively on this issue took to the floor of the house this week, yes, to tell republicans once again they ought to bring that bill up for a vote, they ought to pass immigration reform. congressman luis gutierrez this week went a
are wonderful people working hard, making contributions, many of their children are u.s. citizens and, yet, they still live in the shadows, in many cases, have been deported and are separated from families. the pope lobbying the president. the president further explained in that press conference that he told the pope in their recent meeting that he still believes that there s a chance that the u.s. congress could pass immigration reform legislation. remember, it s already passed the senate. just needs to come up for a vote in the house. the president says he still thinks it is possible john boehner might do that. nobody else seems to think that is possible. one democratic congressman who s worked intensively on this issue took to the floor of the house this week, yes, to tell republicans once again they ought to bring that bill up for a vote, they ought to pass immigration reform. congressman luis gutierrez this week went a step further and also told republicans if they do not bring
pushback saying, ardent opponents grew bolder in the week after the republican retreat. representative raul labrador, republican of idaho and a negotiator on immigration, suggested a push now would cost mr. boehner his speakership. representative mo brooks of alabama echoed the threat. joining me with reaction from the white house is nbc s kristen welker. the president has already said he wants immigration reform legislation to be passed this year. but given the speaker s latest comments, is this something he will now use executive action to push forward? reporter: i don t think so, milissa. the white house is signaling the president is not going to use executive actions to deal with the issue of immigration reform. the president has consistently called for a broad bipartisan bill to get passed. it looked like 2014 was the year, as you point out, that immigration reform could actually get done. republicans saying behind the scenes that it is politically smart, especially after you sa