(CNN) Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday acknowledged that "of course" toothbrushes, blankets and medicine are necessary basics for children -- despite the Trump administration's legal argument earlier this week that detained migrant children didn't need those items in order to be held in "safe and sanitary conditions."

Pence responded to footage of a Department of Justice attorney arguing that "there's fair reason to find that those things may be part of safe and sanitary," before a judge states, "Not may be, are a part."

CNN's Jake Tapper asked Pence during "State of the Union" on Sunday, "Aren't toothbrushes and blankets and medicine, basic conditions for kids, aren't they a part of how the United States of America, the Trump administration treats children?"

Pence replied, "Well, of course they are," and later added, "I can't speak to what that lawyer was saying."

The vice president's comments follow CNN reporting of a group of doctors, advocates and lawyers warning of what they say are major health and hygiene problems at several US Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas.

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