Nielsen's ouster underscores Trump's failures on the border

President Donald Trump tours the U.S. border with Mexico at the Rio Grande on Jan. 10, 2019, in McAllen, Texas, with Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas. - Copyright Evan Vucci AP file

By Chuck Todd and Mark Murray and Carrie Dann with NBC News Politics

Published on 08/04/2019 - 14:31

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First Read is your briefing from "Meet the Press" and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is out. But President Trump's failures on the border remain.

The number of migrant families at the border is surging.
Trump still doesn't have his border wall, even though Democrats offered him $25 billion for it in return for DACA being signed into law.
The administration continues to reel from its one-time practice of separating migrant children from their families.
And oh, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history took place due to the president's insistence of a border wall (which he still doesn't have).

Trump announced that Kevin McAleenan, the current head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will become acting Homeland Security secretary.

The irony of Nielsen's ouster is that she had been "the most aggressive secretary in the department's short history in cracking down on immigration," Vox's Dara Lind writes. "None of it appears to have been enough for Trump."

Lind adds, "Nielsen couldn't make that happen, because no one could, because it's impossible. The U.S. can't — even with a wall — physically prevent the entry of unauthorized immigrants onto U.S. soil. And once on U.S. soil, they have certain rights — including the right to request asylum."

Our colleague, NBC's Dafna Linzer, makes another point about the massive Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for much more than immigration and border enforcement: The organization is under serious strain.

Per Linzer: The deputy secretary, Elaine Duke, left one year ago, in April 2018. She was not replaced.

The head of ICE is acting, and his nomination to lead that DHS office was withdrawn, surprisingly, last week.

The head of FEMA, also under DHS, is "acting"

The inspector general resigned last year and that office is run by an "acting" head.

And more critically, McAleenan will now leave his post as commissioner of CPB — the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country and under DHS — to become "acting" DHS secretary.

Tweet of the day

Pete's Defeat (in 2010)

Maybe no other 2020 presidential candidate has enjoyed a better past month than South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

But as Dems look for a nominee who can beat Donald Trump, Buttigieg has to answer this question: How did he lose a statewide race (for Indiana treasurer) to Richard Mourdock by 25 points back in 2010?

Yes, that Richard Mourdock, who lost two years later in a Senate race to Democrat Joe Donnelly after saying that when a woman is impregnated during a rape, "it's something God intended."

On "Meet the Press" yesterday, one of us asked Buttigieg about that 25-point loss:

"It was 2010. It's hard for a Democrat to win statewide in the best of years. I was running in the worst of years. But I'm still proud of our campaign," he said.

There's no doubt that 2010 was a tough year for Democrats, especially in red states. But it's also worth noting that Buttigieg underperformed Dem Senate nominee Brad Ellsworth, who lost to Dan Coats (yes, that Dan Coats) by 15 points.

Of course, the Pete Buttigieg of 2010 isn't the Pete Buttigieg of 2019 (who just raised $7 million for the quarter); Mourdock was an incumbent in that '10 race, which is a hurdle for any challenger; and Donald Trump's election proved that almost anything is possible in our current politics.

But when it comes to electability — at least based on past results — Buttigieg has a more complicated answer to give than, say, Amy Klobuchar (who just won 60 percent in a state Trump almost carried in 2016), or Beto O'Rourke (whose 2.5-point loss in Texas could have been in many other states), or even Elizabeth Warren (who defeated Scott Brown in 2012).

Sanders says he'll release his taxes "very, very shortly"

In an interview with NBC's Shaquille Brewster, 2020 Dem candidate Bernie Sanders said he'll be releasing his taxes shortly.

But we've also heard that one before.

BREWSTER: Taxes, you have filed for the past 10 years. Why not just release them today, (we will) why not just release them today, all of them?

SANDERS: They will be released very, very shortly. April 15th is coming, and we're gonna do our taxes for this year and that will be the 10th year --

Brewster: But 2016? 2017?

SANDERS: We will-- They will all be there. You'll be happy to see them. I say when you talk about taxes, President Trump we're going to release ten years of our taxes, you (meaning Trump) do the same.

[snip]

BREWSTER: With you calling on the president to release his taxes, why not just do it now-- release what you have so far?

SANDERS: We are. Not right this minute.

Brewster: Not today?

SANDERS: We are, not right this minute, you think I have them in my back pocket?

For the record, in the 2016 cycle, Sanders released just one tax return — a summary for 2014. That's it.

2020 Vision: Booker raised $5 million-plus

On Sunday, Cory Booker's campaign announced raising more than $5 million for the first fundraising quarter (Jan. 1 to March 31), and that it has more than $6.1 million in the bank - due to Senate money transferred to his presidential account.

To put Booker's haul into perspective with the other 2020 candidates who have announced their first-quarter totals so far:

Total raised

Bernie Sanders: $18.2 million in 41 days
Kamala Harris: $12 million in 70 days
Beto O'Rourke: $9.4 million in 18 days
Pete Buttigieg: $7 million in 68 days
Cory Booker: $5 million-plus in 59 days

Total raised (average per day)

Beto: $552K
Bernie: $444K'
Harris: $171K
Pete: $103K
Booker: $85K

The candidates have until April 15 to file their first-quarter reports to the Federal Election Commission.

On the campaign trail today

The 2020 Democrats head out west today: Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders speak at a transportation conference in Las Vegas… And Pete Buttigieg also holds two events in Vegas.

Data Download: The number of the day is … 17 percent.

Seventeen percent.

That's the share of Americans who say they think their taxes will go DOWN as a result of Trump-passed tax reform legislation, according to new numbers released from our NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

More Americans think their taxes will go up (28 percent) or stay the same (27 percent.)

Those most likely to think their taxes will go down?

That would be Republicans (33 percent) and higher-income earners (25 percent).