1 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:04,233 JUDY WOODRUFF: In Washington tonight, there is no sign of an agreement on immigration 2 00:00:04,233 --> 00:00:08,866 reform or on a government spending deal to beat a looming deadline. 3 00:00:08,866 --> 00:00:13,866 Instead, much of the focus remains on what President Trump said and did at a White House 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:16,166 meeting last week. 5 00:00:16,166 --> 00:00:17,500 Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage. 6 00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:19,600 SEN. 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,166 CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), Iowa: Do you affirm that the testimony you're about to give before 8 00:00:22,166 --> 00:00:24,666 the committee... 9 00:00:24,666 --> 00:00:26,933 LISA DESJARDINS: Under oath, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen again pushed back 10 00:00:26,933 --> 00:00:31,933 at charges that the president ever uttered a specific profanity to describe Haiti and 11 00:00:32,666 --> 00:00:34,866 African countries. 12 00:00:34,866 --> 00:00:35,566 ®MD+I®MD-IKIRSTJEN NIELSEN, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security: I didn't hear that word 13 00:00:35,566 --> 00:00:37,566 used, no, sir. 14 00:00:37,566 --> 00:00:40,633 LISA DESJARDINS: But she didn't answer if he might have said something similar, instead 15 00:00:40,633 --> 00:00:44,133 saying there was strong and impassioned language. 16 00:00:44,133 --> 00:00:47,400 Democrat Dick Durbin, who was also in last week's meeting, pressed her. 17 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,100 SEN. 18 00:00:49,100 --> 00:00:50,400 RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL), Minority Whip: What was that strong language? 19 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:51,300 ®MD+I®MD-IKIRSTJEN NIELSEN: Ah, let's see. 20 00:00:51,300 --> 00:00:52,766 Strong language. 21 00:00:52,766 --> 00:00:57,300 There was -- apologies, I don't remember a specific word. 22 00:00:59,333 --> 00:01:02,566 What I was struck with, frankly, and I'm sure you were as well, was just the general profanity 23 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:04,933 that was used in the room by almost everyone. 24 00:01:04,933 --> 00:01:06,633 DURBIN: Did you hear me use profanity? 25 00:01:06,633 --> 00:01:07,633 ®MD+I®MD-IKIRSTJEN NIELSEN: No, sir. 26 00:01:07,633 --> 00:01:09,666 Neither did I. 27 00:01:09,666 --> 00:01:12,333 LISA DESJARDINS: New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker fired back, questioning Nielsen's honesty. 28 00:01:12,333 --> 00:01:14,433 SEN. 29 00:01:14,433 --> 00:01:18,333 CORY BOOKER (D), New Jersey: The commander in chief, in an Oval Office meeting, referring 30 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,533 to people from African countries and Haitians with the most vile and vulgar language. 31 00:01:26,833 --> 00:01:31,033 That language festers. 32 00:01:31,033 --> 00:01:36,033 When ignorance and bigotry is allied with power, it is a dangerous force in the country. 33 00:01:38,666 --> 00:01:40,766 Your silence and your amnesia is complicity. 34 00:01:40,766 --> 00:01:45,100 LISA DESJARDINS: President Trump himself today was meeting with the Kazakh president, but 35 00:01:45,100 --> 00:01:47,866 was pressed on a different detail from last week's meeting. 36 00:01:47,866 --> 00:01:51,166 QUESTION: Mr. President, did you say that you want more people to come in from Norway? 37 00:01:51,166 --> 00:01:53,733 Did you say that you wanted more people to come in from Norway? 38 00:01:53,733 --> 00:01:55,800 Is that true, Mr. President? 39 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:57,966 DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I want them to come in from everywhere. 40 00:01:57,966 --> 00:01:59,966 Everywhere. 41 00:01:59,966 --> 00:02:03,066 LISA DESJARDINS: This as Congress and the White House try to reassemble talks over DACA 42 00:02:03,066 --> 00:02:07,233 recipients, people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. 43 00:02:07,233 --> 00:02:11,800 As part of that, North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis defended the president's push 44 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:12,966 for more border security. 45 00:02:12,966 --> 00:02:15,000 SEN. 46 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,033 THOM TILLIS (R), North Carolina: I, for one, think that we have to have a balanced proposal, 47 00:02:17,033 --> 00:02:20,533 a compromise that solves and addresses the DACA problem in a compassionate and sustainable 48 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,033 way. 49 00:02:23,033 --> 00:02:26,566 But we also have to understand we need to be compassionate in terms of the threat to 50 00:02:28,233 --> 00:02:30,933 our community and to our homeland by not securing the border. 51 00:02:30,933 --> 00:02:35,066 And you can only do that when people lower the temperatures and recognize that securing 52 00:02:35,066 --> 00:02:40,066 the border is an absolutely appropriate request as we're solving the DACA problem. 53 00:02:42,100 --> 00:02:46,200 LISA DESJARDINS: And this immigration battle has direct connections to the latest government 54 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,300 spending showdown. 55 00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:52,300 Congress must pass another funding bill by the end of the week, or government will shut 56 00:02:52,300 --> 00:02:54,900 down. 57 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:58,300 Issue one, the Senate, where a spending bill will likely need 60 votes, meaning some Democratic 58 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,100 votes. 59 00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:05,000 But Democrats say, first, they need a deal on DACA in the spending bill. 60 00:03:05,733 --> 00:03:07,766 Issue two, the House. 61 00:03:07,766 --> 00:03:11,500 Without any Democrats to pass the spending bill there, Republicans would have to get 62 00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:14,866 the 218 votes need from their members only. 63 00:03:14,866 --> 00:03:19,600 And many Republicans have said they don't want to vote for any more short-term spending 64 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,633 bills. 65 00:03:21,633 --> 00:03:26,333 Outside the hearing room, a key character in all of this, South Carolina Republican 66 00:03:26,333 --> 00:03:28,400 Lindsey Graham, spoke to reporters. 67 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:33,033 He insisted that the president was on board a DACA deal last Tuesday and at 10:00 a.m. 68 00:03:34,133 --> 00:03:36,100 Thursday, but changed two hours later. 69 00:03:36,100 --> 00:03:38,066 SEN. 70 00:03:38,066 --> 00:03:39,333 LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), South Carolina: Yes, I think somebody on his staff gave him really 71 00:03:39,333 --> 00:03:42,666 bad advice from 10:00 to 12:00 on Thursday. 72 00:03:42,666 --> 00:03:46,900 I think the president I saw on Tuesday is the guy I play golf with. 73 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:48,533 I actually like the guy. 74 00:03:48,533 --> 00:03:49,900 He's actually funny. 75 00:03:49,900 --> 00:03:52,300 I thought he commanded the room. 76 00:03:52,300 --> 00:03:57,200 And the conversation at 10:00 on Thursday was pretty consistent with the guy I saw Tuesday. 77 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:58,200 Something happened between 10:00 and 12:00. 78 00:03:58,200 --> 00:03:59,200 And I like Secretary Nielsen. 79 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:00,500 She's a nice person. 80 00:04:00,500 --> 00:04:01,733 And we will get to the bottom of this. 81 00:04:01,733 --> 00:04:02,400 But here is what's going to matter. 82 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:03,200 How does it end? 83 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:04,633 How does it end? 84 00:04:04,633 --> 00:04:05,833 Does it end with the government shutting down? 85 00:04:05,833 --> 00:04:07,866 We should all be kicked out if that happens. 86 00:04:07,866 --> 00:04:12,600 LISA DESJARDINS: Add to the political storm, rolling protests from DACA recipients and 87 00:04:14,566 --> 00:04:18,866 others erupted on Capitol Hill today, with police and other sources expecting those to 88 00:04:18,866 --> 00:04:20,133 only grow. 89 00:04:20,133 --> 00:04:22,733 JUDY WOODRUFF: And Lisa joins me now. 90 00:04:22,733 --> 00:04:23,966 Lisa, what a day. 91 00:04:23,966 --> 00:04:25,933 You were up on the Capitol all day. 92 00:04:25,933 --> 00:04:29,333 So, where do things stand right now in the Senate efforts to work with the White House? 93 00:04:29,333 --> 00:04:31,366 LISA DESJARDINS: All right. 94 00:04:31,366 --> 00:04:34,400 So, Senator Dick Durbin told me that he will unveil legislative text of this kind of gang 95 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,166 of six bipartisan bill tomorrow. 96 00:04:37,166 --> 00:04:41,033 Senator Graham, his partner in those talks, told me he trying to woo Republicans and that 97 00:04:41,033 --> 00:04:45,200 he is open to try and toughen it, maybe with some kind of guarantees of how they could 98 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:46,866 deport felons, for example. 99 00:04:46,866 --> 00:04:48,333 He's thinking about that. 100 00:04:48,333 --> 00:04:50,400 Now, will this all lead to a shutdown? 101 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,266 Will Democrats withhold their votes in the Senate if they don't get a DACA deal? 102 00:04:53,266 --> 00:04:58,266 One senator, Sheldon Whitehouse, told me if they think there is progress, maybe then they 103 00:04:59,933 --> 00:05:02,033 could support a funding bill, but right now they don't see that progress. 104 00:05:02,033 --> 00:05:06,100 JUDY WOODRUFF: So you're telling me, Lisa, what you're picking up is that things seem 105 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:08,933 to be moving in a more conservative direction in all of this? 106 00:05:08,933 --> 00:05:11,433 LISA DESJARDINS: Yes. 107 00:05:11,433 --> 00:05:13,800 And I think that's because of what the president said last week and its effect on the House. 108 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,933 The president's remarks were essentially a boulder to a very fragile compromise trying 109 00:05:17,933 --> 00:05:19,866 to be built on the House side. 110 00:05:19,866 --> 00:05:23,900 Now, instead of them talking about this kind of Durbin-Graham compromise, what I heard 111 00:05:23,900 --> 00:05:27,766 from a House source today, someone who is generally pretty moderate, they said that 112 00:05:27,766 --> 00:05:32,766 work is -- that deal is not possible because they said a DACA path to citizenship is something 113 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:35,366 they won't accept. 114 00:05:35,366 --> 00:05:37,300 That used to be middle ground. 115 00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:41,100 So, if that, in fact, is really where the lines have changed, the two sides are very 116 00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:43,133 far part. 117 00:05:43,133 --> 00:05:45,866 Now, also, Marc Short from the White House met with House Republican number two, Kevin 118 00:05:45,866 --> 00:05:47,533 McCarthy, today. 119 00:05:47,533 --> 00:05:50,866 That's the White House signaling, hey, we're working with the House. 120 00:05:50,866 --> 00:05:52,233 They're not reaching out to the Senate. 121 00:05:52,233 --> 00:05:54,766 So , we see that divide right now. 122 00:05:54,766 --> 00:05:57,533 JUDY WOODRUFF: And on the spending bill, you're hearing House Republicans thinking of adding 123 00:05:57,533 --> 00:05:58,533 something to that? 124 00:05:58,533 --> 00:06:00,633 LISA DESJARDINS: Right. 125 00:06:00,633 --> 00:06:02,466 So, if the DACA impasse is too great, and they have a real problem there, how do they 126 00:06:02,466 --> 00:06:04,566 pass a spending bill? 127 00:06:04,566 --> 00:06:08,300 House Republicans tonight will talk to their conference about adding a six-year extension 128 00:06:08,300 --> 00:06:10,700 of the CHIP, Children's Health Insurance Program. 129 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:12,800 That's something many people want. 130 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,766 And also, listen to this, Judy, a five-year repeal of the medical device tax. 131 00:06:16,766 --> 00:06:19,633 That's something that Republicans have disliked for many years. 132 00:06:19,633 --> 00:06:21,700 It was part of the Affordable Care Act. 133 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:25,966 They may add that as a sort of sweetener to pass a short-term funding bill. 134 00:06:25,966 --> 00:06:26,966 But can any of this work? 135 00:06:26,966 --> 00:06:28,666 It's unclear. 136 00:06:28,666 --> 00:06:32,033 Tonight, I think, Judy, we're actually closer to a government shutdown. 137 00:06:32,033 --> 00:06:34,166 But it's Tuesday. 138 00:06:34,166 --> 00:06:37,133 And I think that, honestly, if you read how these things work, really, it's Wednesday 139 00:06:37,133 --> 00:06:38,633 and Thursday that matter the most. 140 00:06:38,633 --> 00:06:39,733 JUDY WOODRUFF: Things are changing almost hourly. 141 00:06:39,733 --> 00:06:41,000 LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, they are. 142 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:42,366 That's right. 143 00:06:42,366 --> 00:06:43,666 JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa Desjardins, thanks very much. 144 00:06:43,666 --> 00:06:46,266 LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome. 145 00:06:46,266 --> 00:06:49,566 JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, the Trump administration appealed a federal judge's ruling that blocked 146 00:06:49,566 --> 00:06:52,233 the president's decision ending the DACA program. 147 00:06:52,233 --> 00:06:57,233 It is also asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the issue, even before an appeals court 148 00:06:58,300 --> 00:07:00,366 rules. 149 00:07:00,366 --> 00:07:03,866 Tomorrow, I will talk with Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois about this immigration debate 150 00:07:03,866 --> 00:07:05,933 and about President Trump's comments.