White House Stands By Stephen Miller
TAPPER: Internationally today the White House is standing by Stephen Miller, President Trump Senior Advisor. But they are not denying the legitimacy of a trove of e-mails given by a former editor at Breitbart to the Southern Poverty Law Center. But the center says clearly show Miller as a center -- as a Senate aide before Trump won pushing a white nationalist agenda. Sara Sidner took a look at some of the more -- the 900 e-mails between Miller and Breitbart.</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A trove of e-mails released by the Southern Poverty Law Center show now Senior White House Advisor Stephen Miller pushing theories from white nationalist sources to far right website Breitbart. In one e-mail, dated October 2015, while Miller still worked for then Senator Jeff Sessions, he talked what he saw as the dangers of allowing hurricane victims from Mexico to come to the U.S. "They will all get TPS," he writes. That's Temporary Protection Status. He goes on to write, "That needs to be the weekend's BIG story. TPS is everything." Then he sends then Breitbart staffer Katie McHugh an article from prominent white nationalist website VDARE of the dangers of TPS. In 2018, well after Miller joined Trumps inner circle, the president ended the TPS status for several countries, including in Central America and Africa. McHugh who gave the e-mails to the Southern Poverty Law Center has recalled on the phone a conversation with Miller to discuss an article about interracial crime on the white nationalist website American Renaissance.</s>KATIE MCHUGH, FORMER BREITBART EDITOR: He would pull crime statistics from there and then try to funnel that through conservative media and that in order to target people of color.</s>SIDNER: In another e-mail on in July 2015, Miller sent McHugh a link from the website InfoWars which peddles in conspiracy theories. The InfoWars headline quotes Reverend Franklin Graham. "We are under attack. Stop all immigration of Muslims to the U.S." A year and a half later shortly after the president took office and Miller was in the west wing, the newly elected president signed an executive order based on this campaign pledge.</s>TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.</s>SIDNER: McHugh was fired by Breitbart in 2017 after she tweeted derogatory statements about Muslims. She has since denounced far right politics and agreed to speak to us by a phone only.</s>MCHUGH: Breitbart editors expected me to take their editorial direction from Stephen Miller up and including the editing of headlines of news pieces.</s>SIDNER: Ultimately, the Southern Poverty Law Center says Miller's efforts with Breitbart were meant to influence policy and it worked.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you see in these e-mails is Stephen Miller creating an appetite for the type of anti-immigrant policies the Trump administration has enacted through Breitbart News.</s>SIDNER: Miller did not answer specific questions about his e-mails. Instead, a White House spokesperson sent us this statement. "SPLC is engaged in a vile smear campaign against a Jewish staffer while Mr. Miller condemns racism and bigotry in all forms, those defaming him or trying to deny his Jewish identity, which is a pernicious form of anti-Semitism."</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an absolutely laughable and offensive attack. I think Miller is responding with these charges of anti-Semitism because he has no other answer to it.</s>SIDNER: Breitbart News told CNN the SPLC claims to have three to four year old e-mails involving an individual whom they fired years ago and you now have an even better idea why we fired her. That's a quote from them. They say it is not exactly a news flash that political staffers pitch stories to journalists. But McHugh disputes that saying that she was basically just a stenographer for Miller, Jake.</s>TAPPER: Sara Sidner, thanks. You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.