5 ways Kirstjen Nielsen's press conference on family separation was a total disaster
(CNN) Faced with a burgeoning political, policy and human rights crisis on the country's southern border, the White House turned to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to quiet the firestorm.
It didn't work. At all.
Nielsen, a protege of White House chief of staff John Kelly and a hardliner on immigration along the lines of President Donald Trump, tried and failed -- badly -- to explain why the forced separation of families trying to enter the country illegally was, well, not the Trump administration's fault.
There was a lot wrong with what Nielsen said -- and how she said it. Here are five things (and you can see the full transcript here):
1. She offered a technical response to a deeply emotional issue
From the start, Nielsen was all facts and figures -- all aimed at making the case that family unit arrivals, particularly from Central America, have soared in recent years. (She's right; they have.) But this is not a purely numbers issue. It's an emotional one too. It's about seeing little kids taken from their parents and wondering how your son or daughter would react in that situation. Hearing the cries of small children desperate to find someone -- anyone -- who can take them to a relative. This issue isn't just about dry policy-making. It's about people too. And Nielsen never even nodded to that fact.
Much more (Includes video): https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/18/politics/kirstjen-nielsen-press-conference/index.html
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My impression was that she was just "following orders." 
