0:00

You were made to travel

0:02

the world, and the seven

0:04

seas, and countless lakes, and

0:06

innumerable rivers, and one

0:08

perfect bond. Get travel

0:10

ideas from Chachipiti on Expedia. Made

0:13

to travel. If

0:17

it's Wednesday, President Biden's crackdown on

0:20

asylum claims at the southern border

0:22

goes into effect and immediately faces

0:24

legal and political pushback with some

0:27

Biden allies bashing it as an

0:29

attempt to quote out Republican the

0:31

Republicans. Plus Hunter Biden's

0:33

ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend take the

0:35

stand in his criminal gun trial

0:37

testifying in detail about the president's

0:39

son's drug addiction as first lady

0:42

Jill Biden watches from inside the

0:44

courtroom. And a suspect

0:46

is in custody and an investigation is underway

0:49

after a gunman opened fire at

0:51

the US Embassy in Beirut as

0:53

Israel warns it's prepared for quote

0:55

intense action and amid

0:58

a rise in violent clashes with Hezbollah

1:00

militants. Welcome

1:13

to Meet the Press Now. I'm Gabe

1:15

Gutierrez in Washington where we're tracking the

1:17

political and legal fallout from the Biden

1:19

administration's executive action which went into effect

1:21

at midnight that will stop

1:24

asylum claims from nearly all migrants

1:26

who entered the United States illegally

1:28

between ports of entry. We

1:30

start with the political backlash which the president

1:32

is facing from both sides of the aisle.

1:34

As we noted yesterday Republicans are

1:37

bashing the action is too weak.

1:39

But the president also faces pressure

1:41

from progressive Democrats who say the

1:44

executive action mirrors the restrictions that

1:46

Donald Trump tried to enact during

1:48

his presidency. What

1:50

we see today is a disappointment and

1:54

from what we know it's not

1:57

going to make the situation at the order

2:00

materially better? It

2:03

is a step in the wrong

2:05

direction, and unfortunately, as a longtime

2:07

immigrant rights activist who has spent

2:10

now 20 years on the streets

2:12

fighting for humane immigration reform, we

2:14

are making the same mistake again

2:17

that Democrats continually make when we

2:19

try to out-Republican the Republicans. The

2:23

White House has rebuffed claims. Their

2:25

action is similar to Trump-era policies,

2:27

specifically pointing to exceptions in the

2:29

asylum ban, including for unaccompanied minors.

2:31

Here's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

2:33

earlier today. There's a

2:35

major difference between what the president has

2:38

done and what his predecessor did. His

2:40

policy does not separate families, does not

2:42

put kids in cages, does not ban

2:44

people on the basis of religion, as

2:47

President Trump did. And

2:49

critically, it does not shut down asylum.

2:51

What it does is say that if

2:53

you come across the border illegally, you

2:56

are barred from making an asylum claim. There

2:58

are still lawful pathways to make asylum claims

3:00

in this country in an orderly and humane

3:03

way. But

3:05

the divide among Democrats comes as polls show

3:07

a dim outlook for the president on the

3:09

issue. Voters list immigration and

3:11

the border as the second most important

3:13

issue facing the country, just barely behind

3:15

inflation and the cost of living. But

3:18

more than two-thirds of voters disapprove

3:20

of President Biden's handling of border

3:23

security so far in his term,

3:25

including a third of Democrats. And

3:28

it's not just progressive lawmakers and voters.

3:30

The Biden administration is also preparing for

3:32

legal challenges from the ACLU, which

3:35

has already announced its intention to sue.

3:38

This was the group's chief political

3:40

and advocacy officer yesterday. The

3:43

ACLU, along with our partners

3:45

at the National Immigrant Justice

3:47

Center and the Center for

3:49

Gender and Refugee Studies, will

3:52

go to court to block

3:54

this illegal and harmful ban on

3:56

asylum.