Transcript for Former top Trump aide Tom Bossert on border security, family separation

nounced over 500 children have been reunited with their pas. But thousands of immigrant families remain separated. What Happe to the children taken from their parents be the policy's change is still unclear. And the president's new order faces skepticism in the courts. We asked the white H for an official to explain the policy. They declined. Adviser early on. A former adviser. Not sure if this is a week you wish you were at the wte house or you're glad you're not in it. Dan balz called it a trifecta of ineptitude. A policy hash. A political debacle. And the most dramatic personal stepdown O the trump esidency. My question is, I guess, was it avoidable? I'm glad to be here to try to explain it. This week has been gripping imagery and terrible optics for E administration. Part of this was avoidable. The attorneneral's requirement,is memo for ze tolerance Sais U.S. Attorneys, where practicable. D almost from the outset -- it's an understandable a righteous decision to take to prosecute any illegal entrant into the country, almost from the outset, we didn't have the capacity to detain these parents together or parately. That's the question I want to ask. Sepating families has been contemated for a long time. Chieof staff John Kelly in March 2017re's what he said. When he was homeland security secretary. If you get some young kids who are coming in -- manage to sneak into the united stat with their parents, are apartment of homeland security personnel going to separate the children from their moms and dads? Yes, I am considering, in order to deter more movement along this terribly dangerous nek, I'm consing exactly that. So that's over a year a Yeah. And in fact, what he decided was not to do that. In fact, that's part of the confion and messaging this week. And a realailure Noto go out and clarify that. If he decided not T it how did it happen? Theision was being considered as a soleeterrent. Theyided not to do it. Instd, the attorney general decided to procute all illegal entrants. Those with without child. Tried to do it in a more uniform fashion. That caught up in the T -- Almost inevitable wheou had paration. Where wn into our sd problem this week. This executive order runs headlong into the ninth circuit judge that decided in 2015 that even deining with parts is inhumane. She callresident oba policy of detaining children and parents together inhumane. There's no way this executive order survives first cct. Because her view of president trump ll be has That decion in 2015 said 20 days is the longest you keep any child. The president's order says, no, keep the families together while you're going through the process. And yore certain, or pretty certain, T the judge will strike this down? If she maintains the same decisionmaking theory she had in 2015, there's no way. Unless she completely changes her philosophy that this one stands up to her scrutiny. She didn't just say 21 days. She said release the parents and the ildren with due haste. She later terpreted all due haste as three weeks 21 da. That's the outside. She woullike them rele sooner.the reality he president's messaging this woke THA was spot-on I that this country has no choice, under current law as interpreted by a judge, to cah anrelease. What happens next? If this is struck down? That's Y some of the liberal decisions, though borne out of compassion deons, are short-sighted and inconsistent. Judge has let the green light nybody from uth and centraerica to come here and bring a kid. And now, she said, release them once they T here. We have catch and release or ngressional action. Or continued blame gam seeing a lot of blame. Aren't there other tions? The GAO did study of using gps ankle bracelets on those detain at the border. They showed in the study that 95% of the people that had them did come back for the hearings. Ink there's misnomer and disaeement on the facts. For the ankleracelets. One of your later gues will probablyk toou wisely T management we can put in place. You'll see the same political fight. Last five congresses have fused to rse the money for these facilities. Ey don't wan to catch and detain. Ey want us, by depriving the execute branch of money, to catch and ase. So thebracelets sometimes work. Sometimes don't. This said 95%. But less than 60% of all those released have returned. The mber of 60% seems to include some of those in custody. So that number can't be relied upon. It's less than 60. A lot of those, over a period of years, not just that study, have had bracelets and fused to appear. The different between chasing them down, catching them, they show on their own, all gives difft numbers. You spent time in the white house. How do you explain that for week we're hearing from the president and other administration official, no on executi orders. Not possible. Turns arnd on a diissues an executive order. While they're writing the order, this rest of tdministrat doesn't know how to enforce. There's a lot of understandable confusion that came from that. The president saw the same thing the rest of us saw, wanted to try to fix it, as best I can tell outside. Shouldn't his counsel tell him that? Hose that said hhad the authority from the beginning, chuck Schumer. How re he. He's put off comprehensive solutions for this for years. So he can run on this political wedge issue. I have little respect that demagoguery. The people prevented him from detaining people. They said, you can fix this with the stroke of a pen. That stroke of the pen doesn't survive three weeks before the court overrules it, is my opinion. The Democrats say are the ones who have been going for a comprehensive immiion elution. It's a waste of time to pursue. His vw is that each of these negotiations have so my poison pills. They're fighting over e-verify. How many agricultul workers we need to allow in. The big pic here isy few politicians oth sides of the aie have ever been wng to answer the tough questions of the quality, the quantity and the te oferson we're willing to leaven every year. Above the 1 million we leave in Y year. Should weet in 100,000? 500,000? They want toave compassion but they have long-term nega conseqes. Ounds like ak from now, we'll be no closer. Iish the attorney general hadn't invoked the bible. I think it's time forll of us to B praying forll of the people suffering in this situation. The kids. The parents. The law enforcement officials. Their families. It's time to put a little bit of money and a lot more T fod for the American viewers into the second rt of this president's immigrn strategy. That is to put real sustainable buile money into the institutional reforms in those three nohern triangle cotries. Atemala, El Salvador, Honduras, that they need to the plague from coming into America. Ounds like the president was questioning last night where we should send aid to Honduras. Yeah. I hope he doesn't go down that path. I think you see Mike pence go dund reinforcehis president's west hemisphere spol si. Democratic, peaceful countries ins hemisphere are in the best interest of our secity. I think you'll see Mike Pompeo go after ve president pence. Just my sup zigs here. We have to Bance closing the border to unmitigated entrance with addressing th root cse problem. Otheise, we' treating the symptom, not theisease. Thank you, Tom. Let's go to congressman Lu

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