Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20180705

Diplomatic uproar in march, with british Prime Minister theresa may accusing russia as the culprit and expelling Russian Diplomats in retaliation. Nbcs Kelly Cobiella is at the hospital in salisbury, england, and is joining me now, as well as clint watts, an Msnbc National Security analyst in new york, the author of messing with the enemy. Kelly, what are they telling us . Well, police are still saying that theyre not clear, they cant confidently say these two incidents are connected, the poisoning of the former spy and his daughter in march and these two british citizens being made quite ill by novichok. Other government officials have suggested these two cases are connected. In fact the Health Secretary earlier today said that this is an unfortunate aftereffect of the poisoning back in march. Whats clear is that these two people have been exposed to this deadly nerve agent. They are critically ill. Government officials and police say they were exposed to it in a different location, a location that has not been previously investigated and was not at all associated with the skripals. Theyre still trying to figure out the wheres, the hows, and the whys of this, andrea. Kelly, after this occurred back in march, they did a decontamination of the area. As you pointed out, these two victims had been in close proximity to the original source of the contamination. Could it be they simply did not clear all of it, its so deadly and longlasting . Or is there any chance that these two people could be similarly targeted by a foreign power, namely the russians . Police arent saying theyre saying they cant rule that out, that they were targeted. But they are sort of seem to be leaning in the direction that this was sort of an accident, that they somehow stumbled across trace amounts of novichok left behind after that attack in march. Now, theyre insistent that their decontamination efforts were absolutely effective, that the places they decontaminated were cleaned and are safe to the general public. But theyre now look at these five new sites. And one theory, andrea, is that probably these two people stumbled on something, some gloves, a coat, a vial, syringe possibly, that were left behind in march. Thats a theory, but one of the possibilities here. They have been very insistent that these two people were not exposed. They had been in some of the same areas as the skripals but they dont think they were exposed to the novichok in the same areas where the skripals had been. Tell us about russias connection to novichok. It has been the source of this deadly nerve agent. It was produced in russia, it has all the signatures of russia on it, right . Thats correct. Back during the actual skripal investigation in march, they were quickly pointed to, russia was pointed to, as the ones actually directing an attack against a former spy who was in the uk. In that attack, these two individuals were targeted, and they were done in a way that they would inhale or actually like swallow the nerve agent. What seems to be the case in this new incident that popped up with this couple is they probably contacted it through skin, meaning they werent necessarily a direct target. This plays to the theory that it was an accident. But it also shows the danger of the substance. Once its out there in the wild, if you are a perpetrator who is going and targeting someone, they dont exactly clean it all up or even have the ability to do that. What the uk government is really struggling with is how do you identify all the places that this substance might be in, how do you make sure you clean it up. And now its creating another public scare at a time where theres tense relations between the uk and russia, and where now here in the u. S. , were talking about a putin trump summit here in a couple of weeks. Speaking of that, we have new word, clint and kelly, that the president is going to meet one on one. This has been coming from the kremlin. They are going to meet one on one, presumably with their translators, or President Trump did at the g20 meet one on one in a side dinner conversation of 45 minutes only with putins translator, not with the state department translator, so no american witness or notetaker. What are the concerns, clint, of that kind of meeting, given all of this background with the u. S. , with moscow, with this incident, as well as the president repeating putins denials of having messed with our elections . Yeah, its a really bizarre circumstance for the u. S. Government. Just this past weekend we saw six senators actually in russia. There was no real u. S. Press presence. And what we heard from the event came from russian statesponsored media, which is that the senators traveled over there talking tough, but once they got to russia, they quickly took russias side. Thats a terrible narrative especially on independence day. Nato, the alliance, has really been stretched. Weve seen President Trump go and battle against germany, canada, the uk in some ways. And we really need a strong alliance, the u. S. Does, with its allies. What does it say when were still seeing thistive betwe tif the uk and russia over this poisoning, and now the president is going for a oneonone meeting with no witnesses. We saw this in the oval office, when the president had foreign minister lavrov of russia actually come into the meeting. There was no u. S. Presence in terms of the media and we heard the narrative of the russian state first. The only real notetaking and accountability was from the russian media. This is a damaging and damning scenario coming up for the united states, particularly as we saw the Senate Intel Committee roll out their report last week that said that putin did in fact order the attack on the u. S. Elections in 2016. That report, bipartisan report rolled out on the eve of july 4th, very little notice or media attention. It basically validates everything that former cia director brennan and former dni clapper, and comey, actually, said in their report in 2017, that the russians did it and they did it to try to tip the balance of the election to donald trump against hillary clinton. Thanks so much. Kelly, one last question, going into the nato meetings, first, before even the putin meetings, how uncomfortable is theresa may and are the british people about this upcoming visit, the First Official visit from President Trump to the uk, with all the hostility that dates back months and months, over not only migration policy but the way hes treated all of the european allies and nato allies at the g7 . Well, theres a lot of angst and handwringing happening here in the united kingdom, a lot of talk of protests as well and how people plan to protest his visit. As we know, the visit is sort of being scheduled to shield the president from a lot of these protests. People still feel passionately about President Trump and they do plan to come out in huge numbers to protest this visit. And then on the other hand, you now have a Prime Minister who will have to bring this up with President Trump. She will have to talk about the fact that two british citizens have now been poisoned by this nerve agent. Whether shes able to get through to the president and press her case to the president when it comes to president putin is another matter, andrea. And let me just point out to our viewers, to all of you, that it is very unusual for such a large Senate Delegation to be in moscow. Never before in my recollection has it been one Political Party and not only one Political Party but echoing the president s views toward we need to have better relations with putin and not challenging the russians at all. These are not even from the defense from the Armed Services committee, pretty much, or from the Foreign Relations committee. This is a delegation of appropriators, not even your top Foreign Policy officials. And its all republican. Ive never seen that happen. This was quite a setup for the russians, not for the americans, before of nato summit. Thank you so much for setting the stage, kelly, on the breaking news, and of course all of your expertise as well, clint. Secretary of state mike pompeo, meanwhile, on his way to north korea. He took off 2 00 a. M. From washington. His first visit since President Trumps singapore summit with kim jongun. Pompeos mission is to get kim jongun to declare the size and scope of his Nuclear Weapons traffic, not a small task. This is a tall order, considering nbcs reporting that the Intelligence Committee now agrees and is warning the white house and the state department that north korea had already cheating, expanding its weapons, not denuclearizing. Joining me now, ambassador wendy sherman, former undersecretary of state under president clinton, and victor cha. Both are msnbc analysts who have visited pyongyang and know how difficult it is to pin the North Koreans down. Wendy, first to you, you saw them cheat. You and the clinton administration, the bush administration, both experienced this, where they make big promises. This was a promise before the world in singapore. We have yet to see anything about it, despite claims from the president afterward that north korea is really not a nuclear threat. We talk about how President Trump bashes his allies and hugs his adversaries. Here is another situation where the president is saying, ive created peace, ive created the end of their nuclear program, and actually nothing has happened. Indeed the president said a few days ago that 200 remains of american soldiers during the korean war were on their way home. They still havent showed up yet. So i think were in a very difficult place. I think the bar is very high for secretary pompeo, and high as well because, as david sanger said in the New York Times this morning, he has to show that he can get a better deal than john kerry did with iran. And you of course you were the wing person, i wont say wing man, you were the wing person on all those trips, years of negotiations. Yes. Victor cha, the cheating record of north korea is wellknown to all of us. But then the president declaring in minnesota a couple of weeks ago, weve already gotten 200 remains back. Well, that created awkwardness for both the state department and the pentagon. They have coffins ready for all these longgrieving families wondering whatever happened to their loved ones. But theres no sign yet. This could be something they will deliver to mike pompeo, perhaps, because its easier to deliver diplomatically than saying were ready for inspectors. The North Koreans think if we give the secretary the 200 remains, that will be a nice deliverable to take back, and of course its important to have them returned. On the other hand, as you said, theres nothing changing in terms of denuclearization. Theyre augmenting their capabilities, theyre upgrading their rocket engine test sites for their missiles, all for the purpose of expanding an inventory that they may eventually negotiate portions down from, but never the whole thing. I think wendy is right, secretary pompeo has a very high bar he has to meet. But the main thing is we cannot continue to give up things that are important to us and our alliances for these negotiations. For example, unilaterally suspending our military exercises in august just for the purpose of trying to get a negotiation going. We shouldnt be doing any more of that from now on. The president did that at the negotiating table in singapore. Thats right. Without prior warning to his defense secretary or his south korean and japanese allies. Right. Thats the number one rule of negotiating, wendy knows this well too. You dont put your north korea policy ahead of your alliance policy. So what were seeing this week is, weve unilaterally agreed to suspend exercises and secretary pompeo canceled the two plus two with india, the first two plus two ever. That means when the secretary of defense and defense secretary meet with their counterparts, in this case india, an important ally, he canceled that meeting to go to north korea for a deliverable that seems far from certain. Wendy, what are the risks here as well for getting ahead of for the president getting ahead of himself, and for john bolton going out on sunday and saying that pompeo could negotiate this in a year, setting a timeline that the state department and the secretary of state have never agreed to . Indeed. And Heather Nauert at the state Department Said others are talking about timelines, but were not. So theres clearly some dissension inside the administration. What i think is going to be very difficult here, andrea, is were focused on this story today. If secretary pompeo comes away with nothing to show for it, saying were having good talks but theyre ongoing, we immediately move into the president s announcement of his Supreme Court pick nominee, we move right into the nato summit, then into the meeting in london with Prime Minister may. And then we have the championship of the world cup on the 15th and the president s summit with putin on the 16th. And indeed the russians are heading into the finals in that world cup which the whole world is looking at. Even if secretary pompeo doesnt get much done, unfortunately the press cycle is such that it will disappear in virtually 24 hours as other News Headlines hit all of us right over the head. What is the best bet secretary pompeo could hope to get from north korea . The most at this point is a commitment by the north to a full reveal of their weapons and their weapons expertise. We need to have that first step. And that was of course where the negotiations ten years ago that i was a part of, thats where it broke down. Because they gave a very bad declaration. And we said this is not serious. So that would be the first sign of seriousness on their part. And wendy, they have to agree to let inspectors in. Theyve never done that fully. They have not done right, they have not done that. As victor says, its that word, verification, that has stymied many of the negotiations over the years. Indeed, not only do we need that declaration in great detail, but then we need a way to affirm that that is true, which means letting people in and letting them see what is going on and what is happening in north korea, something the North Koreans have never really loud people to do. The only one whos gotten into any of the Nuclear Facilities is sid hecker, who says it will take 15 years to dismantle their program. Others say it can happen faster than that, but nothing can happen until we know everything about their program and that has never happened. Sid hecker is a Renowned Nuclear expert at stanford, unimpeachi unimpea unimpeachable. Coming up, supreme anxiety. Nbc news confirming who Donald Trumps top three contenders are for the Supreme Court, four days before the president is expected to reveal his choice. A closer look at the candidates, when we return. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. My day starts well before im in the kitchen. I need my blood sugar to stay in control. I need to shave my a1c. Weekends are my time. I need an insulin that fits my schedule. Tresiba® ready announcer tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. Dont use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Dont share needles or insulin pens. Dont reuse needles. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. Check your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can be serious and may be lifethreatening. Injection site reactions may occur. Tell your prescriber about all medicines you take and all your medical conditions. Taking tzds with insulins, like tresiba®, may cause serious side effects like heart failure. Your insulin dose shouldnt be changed without asking your prescriber. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, extreme drowsiness, swelling of your face, tongue or throat, dizziness, or confusion. Ask your Health Care Provider if youre tresiba® ready. Covered by most insurance and medicare plans. Tresiba® ready welcome to holiday inn thank you wait, i have something for you every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. Save up to 15 when you book early at hollidayinn. Com save up to 15 when you book early President Trump says he will make up his mind about his Supreme Court choice by the end of the week, sparking a furious lobbying campaign from insiders before mondays announcement. Nbc news has learned the list is now narrowed to three Appeals Court judges, unless the president changes his mind. Brett kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and amy coney barrett, all carefully cultivated by conservatives and republican lawyers. Cavanaugh is at the center of an intense debate. Much of the focus is on roe v. Wade but other key cases like Voting Rights and Campaign Finance hang in the balance. Harry lippmann joins me, as well as pete williams. Pete, in gaming this, as you know better than anyone, all of these people have been vetted and cleared by the federalist society. We have to assume theyre conservatives. But among conservatives, there are those who are more true believing on some things than others. So what are the objections to cavanaugh, for instance . Well, i think they focus on two decisions that he joined, one in dissent when he said that a young woman who was arrested as an illegal immigrant and held in detention was not entitled to have the federal government help her get an abortion. He agreed with that, but his dissent by some opponents of abortion wasnt considered Strong Enough. So it wasnt his position. It was the, i guess you could say, the fervor with which he expressed it. A similar thing when he joined in a concurrent dissent, rather, on the Affordable Care act. Many conservatives thought he wasnt Strong Enough on it, that he objected to the timing of the lawsuit on procedural grounds and didnt go in for a fullthroated attack on the unconstitutionality of it, which has been a sort of Central Point of conservative attacks on obamacare, which is that it was unconstitutional, conscripting people, forcing them to buy insurance when they didnt want to. And what do we know about Raymond Kethledge . Like cavanaugh, hes a former kennedy clerk. I suspect thats one of the reasons hes on the list. He is 53 or 51 years old. Both amy barrett and Brett Kavanaugh are catholic. He is in thing e ing aanglican north america, which broke off from the Episcopal Church because they didnt like some of the positions of the Episcopal Church. He is not an ivy league graduate, he went to michigan law school. He was in private practice. Nominated by george w. Bush and confirmed by voice vote. He cowrote a book with an army veteran on the importance of solitude and thinking for leaders. Interesting that it was a voice vote. So he was not controversial or they would have demanded a roll call vote at the time. Right. Of course theres a different test, a different standard. Theyre all lifetime appointments, but a different standard certainly for elevation to the Supreme Court. For the simple reason that the Appeals Court judges follow Supreme Court precedent and Supreme Court justices set it. And harry, as someone experienced as a prosecutor and as a Justice Department official, what are the stakes here, given the politics of it, theyve got the numbers. So if its party line or if they persuade a couple of those red state democrats, they dont have to hold every republican to get this confirmation through. And the timetable is completely up to mitch mcconnell. Yeah, all of that is right. The democrats are really playing a very weak hand here, both procedurally and in substance. And you make a very good point, theres been a lot of focus on the democrats trying to be able to pluck either collins or murkowski. But there are three to five democrats in red states who are at real risk of going with the choice. And that would be game over. Its been very interesting over the last 24 hours to watch the infighting on the democratic side over kethledge, cavanaugh and barrett. To us it all looks like, you know, a monolithic list, as you say, of curated conservatives. But there are little gradations of difference, stripes of conservatives. And that will really matter. You know, the notion that Brett Kavanaugh is inadequately conservative would have struck anyone as nuts, does strike many as nuts, who have known him for years. But it serves to illustrate that people have different stakes. Some are coming at it mainly from the point of view of a social agenda. Others from the point of view of judicial philosophy. And let me ask you about roe v. Wade, because Susan Collins was at a parade yesterday and was talking to my colleague Vaughn Hillyard about roe. Shes made it very clear how she feels about roe. There are other ways to restrict womens reproductive rights beyond overturning the precedent. Let me play this bit of senator collins in maine yesterday. Reporter why not commit to voting no on a nominee that will not tell you that roe v. Wade is precedent . Well, i think ive made it pretty clear that if a nominee has demonstrated hostility to roe v. Wade, and has said that theyre not going to abide by that longstanding precedent, that i could not support that nominee. But its not we dont even know who the nominee is. Reporter a lot of people are looking, though, and saying we need to hear that from you. But they have. So harry, its much more subtle than that. And the way they question, ive noticed in covering all these confirmation hearings going back to bork, questioning is critical. Right now Dianne Feinstein is under fire by many people for the way she questioned amy coney barrett. The president may be thinking, ill put a woman up, shes dead set against roe v. Wade but she may be a way of making the more liberal, more progressive senators look bad by challenging a woman. There are all kinds of ways to think about the politics of this. And theres another way of asking, you know, will you speak about roe, and they say no, and do you believe in precedent, yes, and leave it at that. And is that good enough . Right. All kinds of ways. By the way, i think this will be where the democrats really come to miss al franken who they made that gamble in mississippi. But he was the sharpest questioner and someone who didnt shy away from a fight. Your point is really welltaken. I have a piece in usa today making the longer argument. But its precarious to set this up as a question of will the candidate be against or for overruling roe, because i think we can absolutely expect the candidate to use the same script as did gorsuch, as did roberts, and attest to the notion that roe is, quote unquote, settled law. But there are many ways to undo abortion rights, whether or not the court ever actually pronounces the words roe v. Wade is overruled. And in fact thats more likely, since the chief justice, the new swing vote on the court, is likely to be reticent to have the court actually put in the position of overruling such a key precedent. But there are actors from the states to the lower courts to litigants to the court in its own agendasetting function who can really do everything but, can put roe on lifesupport without declaring it dead. And so much else at stake, affirmative action, well be talking about that later in the program, especially now given the Justice Departments new policy on that. Well, pete williams, youre the busiest man in town for the next weeks, months, whatever, you always are. Thanks for being with us today. And harry litman, thank you for coming in. Coming up, race against the rain. Rescuers in thailand working furiously to free the 12 boys trapped in a cave. The latest from the scene, next. door bell rings its open hey. This is amazing. With moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay . Even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira can help get, and keep uc under control when other medications havent worked well enough. And it helps people achieve control that lasts. So you can experience few or no symptoms. 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. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, control is possible. I we worked with pg eof to save energy because wenie. Wanted to help the school. They would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didnt cut off the light. The teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. So they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. We actually saved 50,000. And thats just one school, two semesters, three girls. Together, were building a better california. Officials in thailand are racing around the clock, trying to free 12 young boys and their coach. Massive pumps have been working day and night to bring water levels down by millions of gallons. Rescue efforts could be further compounded by heavy monsoons in the forecast for sunday. Bill neely, nbc chief global correspondent is in chiang rai, thailand for more on the desperate situation. Bill, i know youre at the entrance to this cave in the middle of the night there. What is the hope of finding an exit strategy . Reporter well, its a very timely question, andrea, because literally in the last few minutes the commander of the rescue operation, who is also the governor of the province, has just given an impromptu news conference. Hes saying the waters are receding a great deal. Thats due to the massive pumping operation thats been going on here for days now. He says there are three chambers next to where the boys are that are now completely dry. There is in effect only one geological obstacle to getting the boys out. It is a Large Chamber thats absolutely filled with water. He was saying theyre monitoring to see at what point is it possible that literally the boys chins could be at the water level and they could wade out. This is clearly perilous stuff. But his calculation, which he said earlier today, is if he can get a 90 guarantee of safety, and only a 10 risk, he has asked the divers and, crucially, a doctor whether that is a risk worth taking. There is a Weather Window here. It is not rained at all for three days. That means that the water level will go down. That means the current is less forceful. There is a Weather Window there. That means that they have an opportunity to get these boys out. And they are clearly tempted by the idea of a fast rescue. And not to be too granular here, but did it matter what their heights are . Some of these kids are taller than others. If theyre trying to get chin level, above the water, arent there a lot of variables here . Reporter there are a lot. And we just pointed that out a few minutes ago, theyre working on who should be the first out. Theyre not going to take all these kids out at once. Should it be the youngest or the oldest . Should it be the strongest or the weakest . This is almost darwinian, andrea. And as we know, these boys are all fairly weak. Theyve been given energy pills, they theyve been eating fried rice, there is a doctor there. But theyre making difficult calculations. It is a race against time. There is a forecast that the monsoon rains will start again this weekend. The governor, once again, was saying thats a calculation. Do we go now or do we just wait until its absolutely safe . The rains come down, they may have to wait months. That is the other option. There are three, thats get the boys out, wait until october when the monsoon season is over, or drill through the mountain, drill through a shaft to winch the boys out. There are no good options here. Theyre tempted clearly to grab this opportunity. But andrea, it is really dangerous. All the divers that weve spoken to and that weve heard say this could be deadly. A boy who cant swim, in darkness, who panics, who maybe has a mask on, who is breathing too much air, breathing too fast, you know, that could be potentially a deadly situation. And those boys are half a mile below me, desperate to get out right now. I cant even calculate the emotional strain on them, their families. And it really is a sophies choice, a horrible decision for those rescuers. Bill, thank you so much. The whole world is watching. Coming up, separation. The update Michael Cohen just made to his twitter account. Maybe it shows he is trying to distance himself even further from donald trump. President trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, appears to be sending signals that he could flip on the president. Or is he . Hes changed his twitter handle to remove his description as, quote, personal attorney to president donald j. Trump. Jonathan capehart, and Kimberly Atkins, join me now. Should he have been using a twitter handle to advertise himself as personal attorney to donald j. Trump . That seems unethical. Right. We know he has new legal representation, it sounds like theyre giving him good legal advice and hes listening to it, hes taking those signs off. It doesnt necessarily mean hes flipping. But it certainly opens the door for that possibility and allows him to take his own interests into account. All of the hallmarks are there for a flip. He faces serious criminal charges himself. He hasnt been charged with anything yet. He hasnt been charged but he has investigations and he knows information useful for this investigation. He could be signaling, pardon me, pardon me. He cant be parted for state charges, but the federal charges could certainly be covered. He could be sending a warning flare up to the president. Sure. Remember, the other thing to keep in mind about Michael Cohen is not only did he advertise himself as the president s personal attorney but he also said, famously, in an interview, that he would, quote, take a bullet for donald trump, just to explain how loyal he is or was, depending on whats going to happen. And in terms of a pardon, he might be pardon shopping with the president of the united states. But one thing to keep in mind, lets say the president were to give him a pardon. He could still be called to testify. If he takes the pardon, he would be compelled to testify. And then if he doesnt testify, he could be held in contempt of court, correct me, counselor, if im wrong. The counselor is nodding affirmatively. Right. Which could put him in an even bigger legal bind than hes in right now. And hes got very good representation, hes got the former head of the u. S. Attorneys office in that Southern District in new york, which is reportedly investigating him. Kimberly and jonathan, i want to ask you about affirmative action. One of the things that happened sort of in the dark of night, as we were all preparing for july 4th, the white house and the Justice Department changing their policy as to what is appropriate for universities and colleges on considering race as one factor in admissions. Worried about point out this has been widely misinterpreted in the past, but basically its saying that race can be a factor, and ought to be a factor, as well as athletic ability, whether your parents were alums. A lot of factors that admissions faculty and deans consider. Kimberly, this could be an invitation to advocates and adversaries of affirmative action to file a case that will go to the Supreme Court. And this, a different Supreme Court. Yes, and it will be. There will certainly be new challenges based on this new guidance. What the Justice Department did was basically reverse guidance to encourage schools to consider race as one of other factors, as well as legacy and other things. Now this will be scourgediscour. The last time the Supreme Court heard this issue, Anthony Kennedy issued a narrow ruling allowing the use of race as one of many factors. Now were going to have a Different Court this time. That time, the Obama Administration urged the court to allow affirmative action. This time the Justice Department signaled they will be on the other side of this. It could really make a big difference in how these schools take race into consideration for admission. There is a case pending by asianamerican students against harvard saying they were discriminated against in favor of other minorities, jonathan, this is clearly many of the universities have said were going to ignore this guidance. Right. Its not legally binding. But it could predict a future challenge. Sure. And thats the key thing. Its not legally binding. But the Silver Lining here is that the colleges and universities are saying, were still going to abide by it, until which time a court case comes down that forces them to do something completely different. And we can have another long conversation about why having a racially diverse student class is a better educational model for everyone of all races. Right. To be continued. Jonathan capehart and Kimberly Atkins from the boston herald, thank you so much. Next, obstacle coursie. The growing list of challenges for migrant families wanting to be reunited with their children. vo why are Subaru Outback owners always smiling . Because theyve chosen the industry leader. Subaru outback holds its value better than any other vehicle in its class, according to alg. Better than rav4. Better than grand cherokee. Better than edge. Make every adventure a happy one with Subaru Outback. Get 0 apr financing on the 2018 Subaru Outback. Get your groove on with one a day 50 . Get ready for the wild life complete multivitamins with key nutrients that address 6 concerns of aging, including heart health, supported by bvitamins. Your one a day is showing. Health and Human Services secretary alex aczar just briefed reporters on his departments latest actions regarding separated migrant families. Nbc News Reporter Julia Ainsley was on that call. Whats latest . I think a big takeaway here is there are nearly 3,000 children that hhs is working to reunite. We previously thought they had a little over 2,000. The reason that number is bigger hhs says is because the court order is requiring them to look back even before trump started that zero tolerance policy. So these are children who are separated perhaps may 6th when that went into effect. They also think some of these children might have been separated on their children maybe by smugglers and they dont understand that they werent actually separated by the u. S. Government so they say the number could come down. They have these very strict Court Deadlines they need to comply with. By july 10th, theyll need to reunite 100 children who are under the age of 5 who were separated and the rest of the children between the ages of 5 and 17 will have to be reunited by july 26th. Another thing they said which really underlines our reporting from yesterday is the only children who have been reunited so far are those who were reunited to be deported with their families. Going forward, theyll be able to keep them together but so far its only been for deportation. Thanks so much, julia. Hot off the presses as we say. Youre just off that call with the secretary of hhs. And joining me now is kate lincolngold. An immigration attorney working with separated motherings. Thank you very much for being with us. I saw your interview with Rachel Maddow monday night and was struck by what an i. C. E. Officer told you on how the policy is not being carried out. You say your clients, these mothers in detention, are not being granted bond. Is that still the case . Yes. My clients still have not been granted bond and across the board were seeing efforts by i. C. E. To delay, deny and deport as many of these parents as possible. So were seeing long time, wait times for the credible fear interviews. Denials of the credible fear interviews. And those are the interviews just to clarify, those credible fear interviews with the interviews that are supposed to be legally mandated so people can explain their credible fears of returning to their home countries . Thats correct, its the first step in the asylum process. Historically, asylum seekers, after passing a credible fear interview, get out of detention. Were not seeing that in the case here with these separated parents. Were seeing lots of attempts to delay, deny and deport as many as possible. It appears the reunification efforts are only for the parents who are going to be deported, not for the parents who are pursuing their cases. Weve seen our reporters, where people were given a document to say you can see your child again, you can be reunited again, im paraphrasing, if you agree to leave, to go back to your country despite these, quote, krecredible fears. Thats whats happening, theyre given the first chance to see their kids. Despite this california federal judge saying that july 10th coming up now is the deadline for children under 5 to be reunited. Yes, thats correct. Thats what were hearing on the ground, that this form is being used as a coercive tactic to get parents to give up their asylum claims. Theyre being told if they sign the form, they will have their children returned to them. What are their options . I mean, you know, i think that they need to pursue. I think that people need to continue talking about this. And im sure the aclu will be enforcing the lawsuit. And in the meantime, were hearing such devastating stories from these families. These parents. A client of mine yesterday said she feels shes been buried alive in detention. And parents are calling their children from detention saying mommy where are you, when are you coming to get me. The children are not eating. Its really a devastating situation. And the emotions on both sides, as you just indicating, some of these children are blaming their parents for not doing enough. Tell me what youre experiencing from your clients. Yes, the children are being told things by, you know, some officials that their parents didnt love them, they didnt care about them. Ive had several mothers tell me that Border Patrol officers told them they didnt love their children and their children were going to be adopted. So theyre hearing mo ing horri things from officials. Some of them havent spoke within their children. The ones who have are given a brief fiveminute phone call, you know, and their official standing over both of them. The kids who say theyre doing okay, the parents are not able to really trust that. Ive heard several reports of children just sobbing uncontrollably and cant even speak to their parents because theyre so distraught. Of course the toddlers often dont even have that kind of communication ability. Tragedy on every level. Thank you for what youre doing, kate, thank you so much for being with us today. Well be right back. Its Pretty Amazing out there. The world is full of more possibilities than ever before. And American Express has your back every step of the way whether its the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. Or getting financing to fund your business. No one has your back like American Express. So where ever you go. Were right there with you. The powerful backing of American Express. Dont do business without it. Dont live life without it. And this update just in. Secretary of state pompeo has just tweeted en route to north korea for those crucial meetings, good to have the press on board. That is a departure from the policy of his predecessor rex tillerson. Were all glad that they have the press on board and were going to have an nbc reporter in tokyo waiting his arrival there when he comes out of pyongyang. Later this afternoon at 2 33 this afternoon eastern, newsrooms around the world are going to stop for a moment of silence. We will as well. To remember the five journalists at the Capital Gazette who were killed last week. That deadly shooting marks one of the deadly i attacks on journalists in american history. Craig melvin is up next. Thank you so much for that. Craig melvin here. Good afternoon to you. Msnbc headquarters in new york city. Supreme short list. Nbc news reporting President Trump has narrowed his list for the next Supreme Court down to just three. Who hes considering and how hes putting pressure on vulnerable Democratic Senators who have to vote on their confirmation. This time in montana. Also, poison investigation. British couple poisoned and the details are eerily familiar. Its the same nerve agent used to poison a former russian spy. Now investigators are trying to figure out was this an accident or was it deliberate. Also, tv spy. A new report looks at just how smart that smart tv of yours really is