Rachel Maddow breaks down in tears on air while reading report on ‘tender age’ shelters

Rachel Maddow breaks down in tears on air while reading report on ‘tender age’ shelters
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, babies, shelters, “tender age, ” migrants, Trump
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By Samantha Schmidt June 20 When she first received the breaking news report, Rachel Maddow seemed to be holding it together like any other night. “This has just come out from the Associated Press,” the MSNBC television host said as she began reading the report in front of her. She paused, swallowing. “This is incredible. Trump administration officials have been sending babies and other young children …” Her voice catching, Maddow covered her mouth. She tried to keep going. “… to at least three …” Then she stopped again, visibly tearing up. “Put up the graphic of this,” she asked, pointing to the camera, her lips quivering. “Thank you. Do we have it? No.” Maddow continued reading: “…three tender age shelters in South Texas. Lawyers and medical providers …” She stopped again. “I think I’m going to have to hand this off.” “Sorry, that does it for us tonight. We’ll see you again tomorrow,” she said, handing the show over to host Lawrence O’Donnell. Rachel Maddow chokes up and cries on air as she struggles to deliver news that migrant babies and toddlers have been sent to "tender age" shelters pic.twitter.com/O6crm8cvyR— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 20, 2018 After the show, she tweeted an apology for breaking down. “Ugh, I’m sorry,” she said. “If nothing else, it is my job to actually be able to speak while I’m on TV.” She explained that she was “unable to read” the Associated Press story that broke while she was on the air. She linked to the article, which reported that at least three “tender age” shelters in South Texas have been housing children as young as babies. The story cited lawyers and medical providers who described “playrooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis.” The story quoted Steven Wagner, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services, referring to “specialized facilities that are devoted to providing care to children with special needs and tender age children as we define as under 13 would fall into that category,” he said. Customs and Border Protection has at times defined it as 5 and under. “Again, I apologize for losing it there for a moment,” Maddow said. “Not the way I intended that to go, not by a mile.” But many viewers on Twitter said that Maddow expressed a sentiment felt by scores of Americans amid the Trump administration’s forced separation of migrant children from their parents at the border. The Department of Homeland Security has said 2,342 children have been separated from their parents since last month. Stories and images of children held in chain-link cages have  sparked outrage nationwide. “Rachel Maddow crying on live national television is the first thing that has felt sane in two weeks,” one viewer tweeted. “She represented what millions of Americans have been feeling, and still feel,” said another. Watching Rachel @maddow not even be able to speak, but literally break down crying talking about Trump’s latest development of “tender age” detainment of seemingly infants