'Start Here': Outrage over 'zero-tolerance' immigration policy

More fallout over the "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.

June 18, 2018, 5:19 AM

It's Monday, June 18, 2018. Here are some of the stories we're talking about on ABC News' new daily podcast, "Start Here."

1. 'Zero tolerance'

Protests continued to grow this weekend over the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy and the forced separation of immigrant parents from their children. While much of the focus is on what's happening at the border with Mexico, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., tells us what happened when he and several of his congressional colleagues visited an immigrant detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

While President Donald Trump is blaming this all on Democrats, members on Congress this week are looking to change the immigration policy and two proposals have come forward from Republicans. ABC News' Meridith McGraw breaks down what's in the bills ahead of Trump's visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

"Start Here" is a daily ABC News podcast hosted by Brad Mielke featuring original reporting on stories that are driving the national conversation. Listen for FREE on the ABC News app, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio -- or ask Alexa: "Play 'Start Here.'"

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2. Yet another meeting

ABC News has confirmed that longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone met with a Russian contact during the 2016 campaign who promised him dirt on Hillary Clinton in exchange for $2 million, as first reported by The Washington Post. Stone, who's already admitted he was in touch with some of the players involved in the Wikileaks dump of DNC emails, doesn't deny the meeting, and ABC News White House correspondent Tara Palmeri tells us what he said to her over the phone.

PHOTO: Gerrymandering activists gather on the steps of the Supreme Court as the court prepares to hear the the Benisek v. Lamone case, March 28, 2018.
Gerrymandering activists gather on the steps of the Supreme Court as the court prepares to hear the the Benisek v. Lamone case, March 28, 2018.
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

3. SCOTUS and gerrymandering

Time is ticking away on the Supreme Court calendar and today the justices are expected to hand down more decisions. Among the big ones we're still waiting for, whether gerrymandering is protected under the constitution. Galen Druke with our partners at FiveThirtyEight explains what gerrymandering is, why it's taken so long for a decision and what all the possible outcomes are.

4. #MeToo and 'nerd culture'

The so-called "nerd industry" -- where comics, video games and TV shows about zombies net billions of dollars every year -- is having its own #MeToo conversation amid new allegations of abuse against a mega-celebrity in that world, Chris Hardwick. The "Talking Dead" host and "Nerdist" founder has denied the claims his former girlfriend made online, but Inverse's Mary von Aue tell us about the larger issue -- how "nerd culture" treats women.

PHOTO: In this Jan. 11, 2018 file photo, Chris Hardwick arrives at the 23rd annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif.
In this Jan. 11, 2018 file photo, Chris Hardwick arrives at the 23rd annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP