Transcript for Being Melania – The First Lady Part 3: Melania Trump on immigration, ‘the jacket’
??? Reporter: Looming large over Melania trump’s trip to Africa, the elephant in the room. Those alleged derogatory comments from her husband. He asked, “Why are we having all these people from blank hole countries come here.” Did that come up during your trip, did anyone discuss that with you? Nobody discussed that with me and I never heard him saying those comments, and that was anonymous source and I will leave that at that. It was a meeting with members of congress. And some of them spoke about what the president said. This wasn’t exactly anonymous sources. Reporter: Melania trump, herself an immigrant, also caught up in the middle of another immigrant flashpoint. And this time, it’s a family affair. Her husband’s opposition to so-called “Chain migration.” A guy comes in, and then you have to bring in his aunt, his uncle, his father, his grandfather, his grandmother. Chain migration is a disaster for this country. Reporter: A disaster? Melania trump’s parents, recently naturalized, just benefitted from the same chain migration their son-in-law denounces. Slipping in and out of the Manhattan federal building, where they took the oath of U.S. Citizenship. Your parents became citizens through family-based immigration. Your husband has called that chain migration. He wants that to end. Where do you stand? I believe in the policies that my husband put together. Because I believe that we need to be very vigilant who is coming to the country. But do you think people should be able to bring in their mother and their father? Yes, of course. But they — we need to — we need to vet them. We need to know who they are. Have you told your husband this? Yes, of course. And what does he say? He agrees. Reporter: But if that’s the case, that’s something the president has never publicly outlined. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. It sounds like what your husband says on immigration to the crowds, on Twitter, is different than the conversations you and him have. How do you sort of reconcile that? I don’t think so. I think he believes the same. That chain migration, he doesn’t want to just cut it off completely. We need to vet the people, and we need to make sure that they believe in our system. Our laws are so bad, so pathetic, catch and release. Reporter: It was with an immigration issue that Melania trump found her strongest voice, taking on her own husband over his controversial policy of separating families crossing the border illegally. So as the family separation was happening, was there an image or a moment for you that just drew the line that you said, “I have to get involved”? I saw it on the news, and I reacted right away. Was it the kids in the cages? We interviewed mothers who were crying, saying they’d been separated for eight months from their children. Separation, yes. It was unacceptable for me to see children and parents separated. It was heartbreaking. And I reacted with my own voice. I went to the border and met with the border patrol. We begin tonight with the first lady’s trip to the border where children have been separated from their parents. I also like to ask you how I can help? Everybody was talking about it, but she actually got on a plane and went and she wanted to see for herself. Again, because I think there are moments when she believes that she can best explain things to the president. If she says them herself and I think she also cares. What did you learn at the border? I met with the border patrol agents, and they doing a great job. And after my trip, I ask them how I can help to reunite the children and parents. What would your message be to those families that are still separated? There are hundreds of kids that are still not with their parents. What would you tell them? I would tell them to keep strong and that time will come. Everything needs to go through the court system. You know, it was under your husband’s policy, the zero-tolerance policy, that these families were separated. That enforcement. Is this somewhere where you disagreed with him? Yes, and I let him know. I didn’t know that that policy will come out. I was blindsided by it. I told him at home. And I said to him that I feel that’s unacceptable. And he felt the same. We’re going to have a lot of happy people. Reporter: One of the rare times president trump has changed course on an issue, putting a stop to family separations. This is certainly not a president who likes to reverse course when it comes to an issue. So if the first lady is the one who convinced him to end this family separations policy, it really speaks to what a strong advisor she is in his inner circle. But it was during that first trip to the border that the first lady’s concern for those separated families was called into question, all because of that now infamous jacket. Shaking hands with undocumented children and what did she mean with the message on her jacket. The jacket on the back said, I really don’t care, do you. It really mattered a lot when she wore that jacket with those words on the back of it that nobody could really understand. That was so uncharacteristic really, because she doesn’t appear to be an uncaring or unfeeling person. The letters right there in large font. The rampant speculation only fueled after the first lady’s communications director insisted there was no hidden message behind the jacket. Her spokesperson said, “It was a jacket, there was no hidden message.” Hidden? It was literally spelled out! Let’s talk about the jacket. The jacket. Why did you wear it? You know, I often asking myself, if I would not wear that jacket, if I will have so much media coverage. It’s obvious I didn’t wear the jacket for the children. I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane. And it was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me. And I want to show them that I don’t care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right. What was it that compelled you to wear that at that moment? Because you were down there, you had just been with children and then you put the jacket on. After the visit, I put it back on because I see how media got obsessed about it. Your office had to release a statement during this time saying the jacket is just a jacket. So you were sending a message with the jacket? It was kind of a message, yes. I would prefer that they would focus on what I do and on my initiatives than what I wear. Reporter: Coming up —
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
