Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20170814

They havent told us about any potential motive for the alleged attack saturday, havent said if they believe anyone was working with the suspect, james fields, and we have not heard whether mr. Fields has actually cooperated with authorities. We do know from Justice Department sources they believe there may be enough evidence to be suspicious of him possibly wanting to send some kind of broader message rather than just harm the individuals who he allegedly hit saturday. Some details on motive, whether he is cooperating, whether others were working with him may be forthcoming in a few minutes from the chief of police. All right, brian todd in charlottesville. Well come back to you as soon as the press conference begins. We expect that any second. Lets go to cnns sara murray at the white house. Sara, the president today came out earlier and did finally condemn by name White Supremacists, the Klu Klux Klan, nazis. Why not do that on saturday . Why wait until today . Why does the president s first reaction when it comes to condemning White Supremacists often be to blink, to refrain from any direct criticism . Thats an excellent question, jake. In fak, shouted at the president by my colleague, jim acosta, why did it take you so long. Trump said theyve been condemned. It is clearly an issue he is not comfortable talking about. Theres a reason people look at what he said saturday, essentially condemning violence on both sides, suggesting both sides are culpable, then you have a lag period and they dont necessarily believe the words coming out of the president s mouth, theyre skeptical of it. Thats because theyve seen it happen time and time again with this president. Remember, it was on your show when you were asking then candidate trump about david duke, whether he would disavow support he was getting from david duke and he couldnt say it. That was again, it took him awhile to come out to disavow them. We were seeing one off attacks in the wake of trump being president , seeing attacks on muslims and latinos. He was called out in an interview. Thats part of the reason this may not go far enough for some americans, jake. Sara, one of the other things President Trump was doing today was holding an event in which he was giving powers, trade powers to some of his Top Administration officials so that they could be tougher on trade deals. One of the targets is china. Are they not concerned that that could end up doing the opposite of what the president is trying to do. He is obviously trying to use trade and getting tough on trade as a stick to encourage china to be tougher with north korea, but it could theres a risk of it having the opposite effect. Reporter absolutely. This is a war playing out with trump advisers in the west wing. Some wanted to go tougher on china early on and in fact they held off on some measures, they planned to do some sooner, some in the west wing were pressed, can you wait until the u. N. Vote to slap them with sanctions. It is an ongoing debate within the white house. Sara murray at the white house, thank you so much. It is a point of pride that President Trump calls them as he sees them the moment he wants to weigh in. He asked the president when he would hold the press conference he promised, he said this. Thank you, everybody. Thats how he rolls. Indeed a reel of his public statements and twitter archive are a gold mine of attacks against those whose behavior of which he disapproves. Lets go to the videotape. From the many tweets expressing disapproval of how actress Kristin Stewart broke up with Robert Pattinson to rant after rant against rosie odonnell, from suggesting john mccain and other pows arent heroes because they got captured to mocking a disabled reporter. I dont know what i said, oh, i dont remember. From attacking former Miss Universe to a gold star family. From the cast of hamilton to judges, including the ethnicity of one specific judge. Hes a mexican. In my opinion he is from indiana. Chastising his attorney general to the Senate Majority leader. I said mitch, get to work. Theres seemingly no one immune to the president s ire. A new tv ad calls those of us that covers him his enemies. The president s enemies bodot want him to succeed. There are two exceptions, Vladimir Putin and it would seem White Supremacists, the president seems to struggle when called on to specifically and unequivocally criticize those groups. Today, two days after the horrific hate filled rally by nazis, Klu Klux Klan, White Supremacists, and the alt right resulted in the death of counter protesters heather he kbrryer, two troopers whose helicopter crashed as they patrolled near the protests, finally two days later President Trump condemns some of these miss agree environments by name. Racism is evil, those that cause violence in its names are criminals and thugs, including the kkk, neonazis, White Supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. The president had to attempt this do over of a condemnation because the first time he spoke on this issue on saturday, he embraced the notion that both the nazis and those protesting the nazis were equally at fault. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides. Now, the moral equivalent, refusal to single out this particular vile crowd of bigots spewing hatred by name was received warmly on the websites of these hate groups. No condemnation at all, wrote one person on the neonazi site, really, really good. But it was all too much for republican officials who took to twitter and the air waves to essentially beg President Trump to do the right thing. Call this white sue prem sichl, White Nationalism evil, let the world hear it. It is something that needs to come from the oval office and this white house needs to do it today. It took another day, this afternoon the president did it. Were all left to wonder why did it take so long . This morning the president was on twitter attacking in full force as is his want among targets, the ceo of Pharmaceutical Company merck, he stepped down saying americas leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy. Now that he resigned from president S Manufacturing council, he will have more time to lower ripoff drug prices. Is it easier for President Trump to criticize ken frazier than it is to criticize the klan . Easier for him to attack u. S. Intelligence agencies after a story he didnt like, he tweeted intelligence agtencies shouldn have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. Are we living in nazi germany. Why is it easier to suggest u. S. Intelligence operatives are behaving like nazis than to call these actual nazis nazis. Lets go back to the white house, cnns sara murray has more on the president s struggle to find the language to condemn these hate groups. To anyone who acted criminally in this weekends racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered. Reporter amid mounting criticism, President Trump is finally denouncing the White Nationalist group that led a rally and left three dead. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. It has no place in america. Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs. Including the kkk, neonazis, White Supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. Reporter trumps comments monday mark the first time he denounced racist groups by name since the violence in charlottesville, virginia. On saturday, the president made no mention of the kkk or White Supremacists. He offered rebuke to those involved, suggesting both sides share culpability. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides. On many sides. Its been going on for a long time in our country. Not donald trump, not barack obama. Its been going on for a long, long time. Reporter the president s muted response drew criticism. Orrin hatch tweeted we should call evil by its name. My brother didnt give his life fighting hitler for nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. And cory gardner told jake tapper in on cnn state of the union. This isnt a time for vague re, for innuendo or room to read between the lines, this is the time to lay blame on bigotry, on White Supremacists, on White Nationalism and on hatred. Reporter criticism took hold on partners on wall street, too. Monday, one of americas most prominent africanamerican ceos Kenneth Frazier of merck quit hiS Manufacturing council, saying americas leaders must honor our fundamental values rejecting hatred, and supremacy. Even before he condemned White Supremacists, he said now that he resigned from the president S Manufacturing council, he will have more time to lower ripoff drug prices. His gladelayed condemnation see too late. He had his opportunity and whift. That speaks for itself. Reporter as the president faces public political backlash, steve bannon is facing backlash of his own, Senior Adviser signals the knives are out for his chief strategist. Over the weekend, hr mcmaster, National Security adviser, was sktd repeatedly whether he could work with bannon and he kept dodging the question. Sara murray at the white house, thank you so much. While we wait for the press conference from the charlottesville, Virginia Police department, bring in bruce l lovell, and dr. Russell moore, president of ethics and religious commission of the Southern Baptist council. I apologize if i interrupt when the press conference starts. Bruce, i will start with you. You heard what the president said earlier today, the big question, why did it take two days for something the rest of us would find easy, specifically denounce White Supremacists, the klan and neonazis. Thanks for having me. On behalf of the largest multi Cultural Diversity culture, we send condolences to the troopers and young lady that lost their lives. Wanted to put that out there real quick. It is interesting when i heard this going down, i was on my way here, looking back at how many times the president has denounced this person. I will not even give him life on the show who this name is or give him any more play in this Mainstream Media, and you know, he has gone back as far as larry king, 1991, totally disavowing this person and group, this person that went to charlottesville and created this mockery of a mess. I think it is totally unfair. The other thing, jake, people dont realize, i know the president s heart, have been privileged to be around him, seen in his eyes, talked with him, been with pastor scott, michael cohen, in many meetings with pastors, i know his heart. In that press conference theres no doubt that President Trump was very upset to see troopers diane people die in what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. In all defense on the weekend, you know, i think he was very saddened. But he said i think i counted 13 times from georges show and your show and many in the past that he disavowed this heinous group. He didnt do it on my show. I think he did. Yes, he did. He didnt. But we can move on. Im sure he condemned the klan and david duke before, he definitely didnt do it on my show a year and a half ago. Dr. Moore, you wrote an oped and you wrote White Supremacy is satanism, even more, a devil worship that portends it is speaking for god. White supremacy angers jesus of n nazareth. Do you see a disconnect between President Trump and what we hear is his heart and for whatever reason is his ability to swiftly condemn White Supremacists . Well, i dont know about the reactions of the political leaders and i will leave that to the Political Class to sort that through. What im primarily concerned about is american culture, about the american church, are we speaking clearly. Especially when we look around the world and see this resurgence of antisemitism and racism, bigotry. We have to be the people who understand history doesnt just take care of this on its own, we have to be the people who guard what it means for everyone to be created in the image of god, to bear the dignity of human beings. Thats why churches are mobilizing, in charlottesville and everywhere else, to say we cant assume because we are in 2017 that somehow we have left the american legacy of bigotry and racism behind. Thats what concerns me very much. Bruce, you run the National Diversity coalition for trump. I get that you think that people are unfair to him. At times like this, will you grant me that he doesnt make your job any easier . No. I just want to elaborate on dr. Moore. I share a good friend of yours, dr. James mere in atlanta that i know well. One thing about this deal thats going to Mainstream Media as relates to this topic, were sitting here trying to debate policy on a man and womans heart. Since we are on the subject of churches, i belong to a ministry with over 118 nations. One thing about race reconciliation, we have to challenge ourselves as americans who our social crowds, who we are, our cultures around us. Are we one culture in our schools and community or are we challenging our children and ourselves to reach out beyond our, quote, comfort level, and get uncomfortable and reconcile with other diversity groups. For example, we cannot under no circumstance look to the government to reconcile a man and womans heart. It comes from within. I agree with dr. Moore. I follow christ. Christ is in the forefront for me, whos the best and known person to walk the earth as the reckon sill ate or of all time. I challenge you to look in the mirror, ask am i looking outside my comfort level, just around an all white church, all black church or all White Country Club or all Black Country club . Ask yourself, am i challenging my kids to go to school, sit with someone from a different culture, come back at the end of the day and say hey, what did you learn about them. This is a people thing, jake, not a policy for the government. We as americans need to reach out and reconcile our own hearts and get out of our segregated minds and hearts, ministries, as dr. King said, the most segregated time is sunday morning, white church, black church, this church. Multi cultural. Thats why i embrace, the president embraces the largest Diversity Coalition in the history of any gop candidate. Jake, over 2 million plus. Numbers prove, when he won with the africanamerican vote, highest since richard nixon. He proved it with hispanic votes. Bruce, let me ask you a question. When there are nazis and clakla men and alt right supremacists marching and people counter protesting, and violence breaks out, do you think that those two groups are equally responsible . Anyone that comes out, and this is Something Interesting thing on this, jake, i am very nervous about one day if the government says there will be no protests at all, peaceful protests at all, this is dangerous for all of us, all americans. Anyone that comes, it is interesting. I turn on the tv, i was on vacation with my son, goes back to college. I said why are guys in riot gear with makeshift shield and pepper spray. I said maybe this is the volunteer Police Department in this town, i dont know. I was amazed, who shows up to a protest with pepper spray and a makeshift shield and a helmet. It is crazy. Its also disrespectful to keep trying to paint this picture on the president and marry him i didnt ask you about the president , i just asked if you think that nazis and klans men and alt right and White Supremacists maran go into a Progressive College town, spewing racist, antisemitic chants, and then there are counter protesters, and im not going to vouch for the clean records and angelic intentions of every counter protester, but certainly looked from what i saw that most of them were there just to show solidarity and support, certainly the young woman that was killed was not there with a shield and pepper spray. When you have these two groups and the president comes out, now ill bring the president into it, the president comes out and says theres hatred on many sides, can you understand why people would be offended by that . Let me share this with the viewers and everyone. I know a little about this, my uncles marched here with reverend David Abernathy and ralph David Abernathy and Martin Luther king. The best way as my dad taught me when they tried to march in the 50s in georgia, best way is to ignore them, stop giving life to this group, stop showing up, trying to hope something going to break off, just ignore these people, jake. Thats the problem. It is like i wont even say the mans name on national tv. He doesnt deserve the respect or anything to get his name spoken, so i will not speak this negative spirit thats trying to totally take over the American People when its crazy, its absolutely insane. And youre in atlanta, im in washington, d. C. , it is easy for us to ignore klans men marching in charlottesville, but not easy for college kids in charlottesville. That mayor of charlottesville, jake, if i was in that leadership, i have been on Public Safety boards, Higher Education boards, transitiportan boards, i would have ordered towns people to say we have this socalled protest coming from this group. Please stay home. Whats wrong with just stay home. Theyre not even worth it. Dont even show up. Whats wrong with that . I tend not to i mean, i dont know that people have to like hide in their homes. Isnt that the problem . I want to bring you in for a second. When you look at all of the hate that was on the streets of charlottesville, virginia on friday night and on saturday, and youre a religious leader, someone for whom reconciliation is an important issue, do you find it problematic, remove President Trump from the equation, do you find it problematic when people act as if the klan and nazis are morally equivalent with the counter protesters . Theres no moral equivalence between the klan and neonazis and others and counter protesters. We need more counter protesting of this sort of hatred and bigotry, and i dont think we can just ignore it and assume it will go away. I think ignoring this kind of thing is what led to the sort of tragedy and hatred that we saw so often in the 20th century. We cant ignore it. We have to speak up and we have to also be the people teaching our children whats happening when it is at the small level of protest marches and so forth to say this is not who we are as americans and this is not who we should be as for those of us that are christians as followers of jesus christ. I dont think we can ignore that, i think we have to speak clearly in clear moral categories about these things. We got the two minute warning. Want to thank you both for joining us. Really appreciate it. Want to go to cnns caylee hartongue. Youre there in that town that had a horrible, horrible weekend. What is it like being there, whats the mood there now . Reporter jake, i have spoken to so many charlottesville residents who told me they were traumatized by the violence they saw in this college town this weekend. I have seen a city who is hurting. I stand at the crash that took Heather Heyers life, we have seen people coming from flowers, vote i have candles, writing feelings in chalk, morning the loss of life too soon. I have seen a city of hope. Businesses are reopening. There is foot traffic, just a couple days ago where it was lined in police in riot gear. Even saw someone playing saxophone as a crowd gathered to take a moment to reflect on what it meant. This town is eager to move forward, jake, but the wake of the violence is weighing heavy on them. Everyone was reminded of it today when we saw james alex fields junior in court the first time as he was arraigned, charged with Second Degree murder. Jake back to you to get to the police press conference. Hasnt started yet. Let me ask you quickly, earlier today the suspect in the attack that appeared in court, fetell more. I will cut you off when i have to break away. Reporter okay. He is currently held in the charlottesville regional jail. He appeared via video teleconference. He didnt say much, he was in a blue and white striped jump suit. The judge told him of charges were going to the police chief in charlottesville, virginia, holding a press conference. Good afternoon, everyone. I am chief al thomas. Thank you all for being here and thank you for giving us opportunity to meet with you and answer questions. I do have some prepared remarks and following the prepared statements, i would like to take time to answer questions that you may have as well. Before i begin, on behalf of every member of the charlottesville Police Department, i want to take a moment to send our deepest condolences to the families of the three virginia residents that lost their lives saturday. As you know, charlottesville resident Heather Heyer was struck down by a vehicle exercising her peaceful right to speech. The city stated earlier while it will never makeup for loss of a member of our community, we will pursue charges against the driver of the vehicle that caused her death and are confident justice will prevail. The Virginia State Police Lieutenant cullen and trooper pilot bates were working with charlottesville Police Department to protect the community. These men also gave their lives in the line of duty and our gratitude to them cannot be overstated. Their loss is a loss for us all and we mourn with their families and colleagues. We are working with the heyer family to ensure the safety of vigils and other memorials that are planned for this week are safe. We plan to keep the four speed crossover closed until further notice as there are thousands of flowers lining the street and that is the location of the crash site. We are also establishing a hot line for any victims or witnesses to contact local authorities and provide information that may not have been reported during the weekend. We understand it was a traumatic weekend for everyone. Were still receiving reports of assaults and additional crimes and were working with state and local partners to velinvestigat thoroughly any criminal or civil Rights Violations that may have occurred this past weekend that have not yet been reported. Throughout the entire weekend, Virginia State police, charlottesville Police Department intervened to break up fights an altercations among those in attendance at the rally site. This began friday night and continued through sunday. The city tracked approximately 250 calls for service on saturday alone. And many of the conflicts, individuals would strike and disappear in the crowd. State Police Medics rendered aid to 36 injured individuals saturday, including several of the traffic Crash Victims on water street. The Early Morning hours on saturday, Virginia State police and Charlottesville Police were positioned in and around and across the street from Emancipation Park in order to readily observe and monitor the actions of the crowds and respond as quickly as possible when emergencies arose. There were also state and local police on foot patrols and at road closures at various locations throughout the parks. So we could respond to emergencies occurring beyond the immediate area of Emancipation Park. Law enforcement were staged at mack in tire park as well. You can see we had a very large footprint during this entire endeavor. Around 10 00, unite the right attendees began arriving and entering ee mamancipation park. We had a plan to bring them in at the rear of the park. They agreed to cooperate with the plan. Unfortunately they did not follow the plan. They began entering at different locations in and around the park and we had to quickly alter our plans to help facilitate that process. Other groups also began amassing along the street and in the park. Gradually the crowd sizes increased along with aggressiveness and hostility of attendees toward one another. Shortly before 11 00 a. M. , individuals in the crowd began throwing objects and spraying chemical agents into the crowd. The city and county then made a declaration of local emergency. The crowd size became increasingly violent with mutually engaged combatants, with one on one attacks following. Unlawful assembly was declared and state Police Troopers began to safely move individuals out of the park and through the streets. Charlottesville Police Officers were originally on site in their everyday uniform. We were again hoping that the members of the alt right rally would cooperate with our safety plan of ingress and egress. Once violent began to erupt, we changed officers into protective equipment, proceeded with organized response to safely ensure order in and around the park. No tear gas was deployed on saturday by any Law Enforcement officers. There were a few incidents where the Virginia State Police Deployed oc or pepper spray on individuals refusing to comply with Unlawful Assembly declaration to levy ma leave Emancipation Park. I would like to take a moment, open the floor to questions if you have any. Chief, last month september 12th theyre claiming they decided there would be multiple rallies, richmond, lexington, here, september 12th . I am not sure that information is credible. Yes, we heard those rumors as well. No one has contacted us directly concerning other demonstrations in and around the state. Why was Fourth Street crossing open before 2 00 p. M. It was supposed to be closed until 7 00. Im not sure whether or not the Fourth Street crossing was opening. I dont have the action plan with me currently but i am certain that the action plan called for this route to be closed. Last month for the Klu Klux Klan rally, you were there from the beginning, in the middle of the rally, kept two sides separate. Why did you take a different approach saturday . This was a completely Different Event from the rally on july 8th. The entire action plan was different. We made attempts to keep two sides separate, however, we cant control which side someone enters the park. We had agreements, worked out security plan to bring the groups in in separate entrances. Again, they decided to change the plan, enter the park in different directions. Chief, we heard reports that police did not do enough to break up fights that it appeared they were standing around, letting people get out. And some suggested they may have been intimidated by fire power of the alt right. Can you respond to that . We were certainly not intimidated by fire power of the alt right. However, it was prudent to make sure officers were equipped to go out and deal directly with the violence at hand. Originally we had officers out in their everyday uniform. We were hoping for a peaceful event. We urged leaders from both sides to engage in a nonviolent demonstration. Once the violence erupted, once the plan was altered, we had to quickly transition officers into protective gear. Once Unlawful Assembly was declared, we requested state Police Mobile field force to deploy in riot gear, officers took position behind them at that point to guard their rear. I witnessed personally dozens of acts of violence, people being assaulted and other general assaults with Police Officers in sight watching. Did you give orders to Police Officers not to help people being assaulted . No. At the point it turned violent, why didnt you guys clear the streets completely . Why allow any protesters at that point to remain on the streets . We did clear the park. And we had, once the crowds were disbursed, at that time we had to send our forces to multiple locations to deal with a number of disturbances in the downtown area. Took nearly an hour to gain control of the streets. We had groups moving constantly. We were following a number of groups, ensuring they were being peaceful. But it was a challenge. It was certainly a challenge. We were spread thin once the groups disbursed. Was there any thought process to say this might not be a good idea to let these people continue to march the streets knowing that these two sides were so agitated at that point. Yes. We have to focus on behavior and criminal activity, not just Citizens Walking in the streets. Chief, this didnt end well. Do you have any regrets and do you wish you would have come more prepared so to speak. In other words you knew what was coming, you met with them, had a plan, you talked it out. Do you regret not having your officers better prepared and in their proper gear earlier so they could have acted sooner . Absolutely i have regrets. We lost three lives this weekend. I have, i certainly have regrets. We lost three lives this weekend. A local citizen and two fellow officers. We certainly have regrets. It was a tragic, tragic weekend. Do you regret your actions and your decisions. I explained what our regrets are, we regret this tragic day. We regret that we had a tragic outcome and we lost lives. Do you believe that one side was more responsible than another for instigating the violence . This was an alt right rally. Do you believe theyre the ones that instigated the fighting . We did have mutually combative individuals in the crowd. We tried to be patient, we tried to give the individuals in the crowd who wanted to leave, we wanted to make sure they were able to leave safely. We facilitated that process. We had a number of individuals who chose to remain and cause violence, cause disturbances in the community. We heard that another county officers were here and friday or saturday when they were told not to arrest without approval of the mayor. Law enforcement officer was obligated by instruction. Were you or the mayor instructing Law Enforcement not to make arrests unless approved by the mayor. No, and i would like to know who the officer is that made those remarks. Thats simply not true. Folks, thank you so much for your time. What would you do differently next time . That was the chief of police of charlottesville, virginia, al thomas, updating us after the deadly racist violence over the weekend, called it a traumatic weekend for those involved, said he had regrets, said a hot line is set up to report more assaults, may have not been reported during the chaos. That assaults have been continuing. There were questions about whether there would be future alt right nazi Klu Klux Klan rallies, he said he heard rumors of that but nothing concrete. Lets bring in the panel to talk about this. Kevin madden, start with you, democratic congressman tim ryan tweeted after President Trumps comments today. All it took was three days of crushing public pressure for real donald trump to finally muster the courage to condemn naziism and racism. Do you agree with that sent meant, not just that it was too lalt but he only did it because of public pressure . I do. There are a number of people of both parties that wish that the president came out and spoke sooner, spoke with greater sense of clarity about what was going wrong down there and calling out the actions of these vile racists that were protesting. You know, president s dont get to do do overs, and today felt like an attempt to achieve a do over. And i think the lesson here from the white house ought to be very clear which is that you dont get a Second Chance and that you have to seize on that moment. Presidencies are defined by big moments, and rising to the occasion on those big moments. This was clearly one of those missed opportunities. Simone sanders, if President Trump gave on saturday the comments that he gave today, would that have sufficed . I think it definitely would have made a huge difference. Ive always said words matter, especially words of the president of the united states. He felt us this weekend, i am happy, used the words kkk, White Supremacists, now i need words to line up with actions. White supremacists have been taken off list of groups monitored by counterterrorism, i think they need to be put back on, we can all agree with that now. Also, White Supremacists sympathizers are currently serving in the administration now in the peoples house. I would call on President Trump to steve bannon, sebastian gorka, they need to go. Talk about that. Josh green, you have an excellent book about steve bannon, you are fair to say other than mr. Bannon, the World Authority on steve bannon. He has a waiver so he can still talk to his former employees at breitbart where he was once chief executive. In addition, he said he wanted breitbart to be the platform for the alt right. Anthony scaramucci, shortlived Communications Director at the white house told George Stephanopoulos this weekend that problems were in no small way steve bannons. Take a listen. If the president really wants to execute that legislative agenda that i think is so promising for the American People, the lower middle class people and middle class people, he has to move away from that bannon nonsense. How much is he responsible for saying dont criticize these people, keep it vague. I dont know what it is between trump and bannon. He is someone with a view point you shouldnt apologize for. I dont think trump needed to be convinced not to come out and explicitly condemn the groups he came out finally and condemned today. We went through this in the campaign. Hillary clinton in august gave a speech condemning the alt right and trump for having hired bannon because of the breitbart connections and trump saw no need then to apologize or modulate or get rid of steve bannon, and didnt cost him in the polls. I think trump went into this saying i dont think i have to. In february, 2016, when then candidate trump was on my show, i asked him what i thought teat the time was a throw away question, about unequivocally condemning david duke and White Supremacists expressing support. President trump three times refused to. Steve bannon had nothing to do with that. This goes back to an old saying i always employed whether on campaigns or working in administrations. Organizations are reflections of their principal. At the end of the day, staff does not matter. This should be another lesson for this white house, no matter how strong the Vice President comes out and says something, no matter how much a Family Member tweets whatever language they use, as strong as it is, doesnt matter until the president himself articulates it. Thats why as a nation we always turned our eye to that executive to look for a sense of healing, sense of purpose, sense of resolve to our president s, and so thats something that steve bannon and battles in the white house are not as important as whether or not the principal says something and says it clearly to the American People. I would agree, jake. Im also concerned about the speech donald trump gave today. The folks who were marching in charlottesville friday and saturday were marching because they were angry that the mayor didnt make the decision to take down the statue of robert e. Lee. There are ties to White Supremacy embedded in the systems of our country that we have yet to address. Nazi germany, folks were put on trial. There were no schools where germany attend names after nazi generals. Here in america, they go to schools named after people from the confederacy. Stick around, taking a quick break. More to talk about on the violence in charlottesville, the president s reaction and his do over. Stay with us. I make it easy to save 600 on car insurance, so being cool comes naturally. Hmm. I cant decide if this place is swag or bling. Its pretzels. Word. Ladies, you know when you switch, you get my bombdiggity discounts automatically. No duh, right . [ chuckles ] sir, you forgot keep it. Youre gonna need it when i make it precipitate. What, what . What . What, what . A penny its ourr back to school one cent event at Office Depot Office Max. 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Joining me, senior National Security analyst lisa monica, served as Homeland Security adviser to obama. Your reaction, you have been critical of President Trumps rhetoric, he is cwould this qua . Good to be with you. Hearing new comments from secretary mattis, i think it is another indication that were getting ourselves into a bit of a war of words here that could lead to miscalculation and miscommunication and thats concerning. I noted that general dunford is on route, in the region, is going to be meeting with chinese officials. He has been sounding what sounds like more measured tones, talking about military force being the last resort and needing to be diplomatic pressure and other types of pressure brought to bear, but he of course is there to provide military options should those be needed. And thats absolutely appropriate. I do think, though, this type of escalating rhetoric that President Trump started with last weekend was really something that needs to be tempered and not box him into a situation that we cant climb down from, and as admiral mike mullen said, you dont want to be limiting your decision space. So the North Koreans said they would possibly be presenting to kim jongun a plan to fire missiles towards guam that would land in the sea about 20 miles away from guam. General mattis, im sorry, secretary mattis, former general mattis, seeming to say if theyre headed toward guam, hes going to assume theyre going to hit guam. Is that an unreasonable position . Im not sure its unreasonable and certainly secretary mattis has a lot of experience in these areas to be sure. I think, though, the concern is that what President Trump said initially with his initial comments was to lay down a bit of a red line that any type of threat that kim jongun would issue would be met with fire and fury. So the question immediately arises, what qualifies as threat. Is it more verbal posturing from the north korean regime, is it mobilizing missiles, firing missiles that land like so many of theirs have in the sea. That type of question and those uncertainty is a dangerous place to be in this region with this regime. I want to ask you about the attack in charlottesville. President trump did not refer to it as act of democratomestic te. I think he should have. I think it is important that sessions did. By any measure, this violence, an individual plowing a car into demonstrators, that type of violence we have seen used by isis in the past is the very definition of terrorism. I think it is important to call it what it is. President trumps Statement Today i think was a Welcome Change from what he said on saturday. It was, however, disturbingly delayed in my view. In may the fbi and the department of Homeland Security put out an intelligence bulletin warning that white supremacist groups continue to pose a serious Security Threat to the united states. I want you to listen to breitbart editor turned white house aide sebastian gorka, suggesting the media talks too much about white supremacist terrorism instead of focusing on radical islamic terrorism. It is a constant oh, its the white man, its the white supremacist, thats the problem. No, it isnt. Obviously radical islamic terrorism is a serious threat. How serious is the threat from white supremacist groups . I think we should take our direction in these matters not from mr. Gorka but from the experts at the fbi and from the department of Homeland Security who as you noted have said that white supremacist extremism poses a threat of lethal violence and they highlighted in that bulletin that you referenced, jake, that goes out to state and local authorities, it is a mechanism by which federal Law Enforcement and the Intelligence Community make known to their state and local partners what the state and local Law Enforcement authorities should be most worried about, and in that bulletin they said that white supremacist extremism has caused more deaths in the last five or six years than any other form of domestic stiextremism. We should be listening to the experts. Any reason why white supremacist terrorism which the fbi is warning about which obviously allegedly took a life this weekend, why that should be ignored as opposed to Islamic Radical terrorism the way that mr. Gorka suggested . Absolutely not, and we should be looking at all forms of terrorism and extremism and we should be focusing on enforcement and focusing on prevention, on the enforcement front, we should be looking at what the tragic events that happened over last weekend in charlottesville, are there connections to Domestic Terrorist Group extremist groups that are long the subject of investigation like the Klu Klux Klan and other organizations, are there connections to those groups. Are there going to be other types of violence like you saw in charlottesville at other demonstrations against removing confederate statues around the country. These are the types of things that Law Enforcement should be focusing in on. Prevention, we ought to be funding the types of research and work by groups who are there to focus on the threat posed by domestic extremists, and what weve seen is the most recent budget submitted by the Trump Administration zeroed out exactly that type of funding. Lisa monaco, good to hear from you. A report the president may grant pardon to a controversial figure and big time trump supporter, some call him a racist. We will talk about that next. Lets see, there are the wildcats til we die weekenders. The watch me let if fly. This i gotta try weekenders. Then weve got the bendy. Spendy weekenders. The tranquility awaits. Hanging with our mates weekenders and the its been quite a day. So glad we got away weekenders. Whatever kind of weekender you are, theres a hilton for you. Book your weekend break direct at hilton. Com and join the weekenders. It survived 4 food fights,ew but old, home a onecoat wonder named grams, and rolled with multiple personalities. Number one rated marquee interior. Behrs most advanced onecoat hide paint. Only at the home depot. So we know how to cover almost almoanything. Hing even a swing set standoff. And we covered it, july first, twentyfifteen. Talk to farmers. 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So President Trump just told greg jarrett of fox news that he is seriously considering pardoning joe arapahoe, former sheriff in maricopa county, arizona, recently convicted of criminal contempt for failing to stop patrols targeting suspected undocumented immigrants as he was ordered to do by a court. If you were advising President Trump, would you is that a good i hate the premise of that question. Would you recommend that pardon . Look, first of all, the president s pardon power is broad, broadly interpreted. This has been a cause amongst most important supporters of the president. If the president wanted to do it, i wouldnt advise against it, and it does fit with some of the pardons you have seen, for a misdemeanor, six months for a misdemeanor conviction is a lot. Simone . Yall know i love kevin madden, but joe arapahoe is a racist, known racist, convicted of racially profiling latinos. If he decides to pardon joe arapahoe he is endorsing racism when he said he didnt. When somebody shows you who they are, believe them. Clearly donald trump is talking about standing on the side of racists. Quickest way to undo small good with Statement Today would be to turn around, pardon joe arapahoe. Wouldnt make a lot of sense for me, political decency standpoint. We should point out, they did Work Together on the racist nonsense that barack obama, first africanamerican president , wasnt born in this country, was born in africa. So they have some common cause. Because your racist pal is going to jail doesnt mean you should pardon him if youre the president. Look, if i was advising President Trump, which i am clearly not, he should not do this. But if he does, i think it would give us the clearest thing weve seen since he has been elected in office of who he really is. If he pardons me, i dont want to hear about a pivot, this is who he is. One thing, the ceo of merck resigned from the president S Manufacturing council because the president s response was insufficient. President trump took to twitter to attack him and pharmaceutical companies in general. Thats a pretty big resignation. Youre seeing more of it. It started with the paris climate agreement, lot of ceos felt the need to state what their corporate values were, and they want to make that known to not only their customers but the public overall. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it. Great panel. Tune in next monday for a cnn special event, i am moderating an exclusive town hall with House Speaker paul ryan in ray seen, wisconsin. He will answer questions from constituents about challenges facing congress when lawmakers return to the hill. Everything from the federal budget to tax reform, infrastructure. Maybe a question or two about President Trump. I dont know. I cant predict what people will ask. Town hall airs next monday on cnn at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. Thats it for the lead. I am jake tapper. Turn you over to wolf blitzer next door in the situation room. Thank you for watching. Happening now, breaking news. Calling it racism two days after the Violent Hate Group rampage in charlottesville, virginia. President trump finally denounces the kkk and neonazis by name, saying racism is evil. Too little, too late . The president takes heat for his initial tepid response to the white supremacist violence. Why did it take so long to condemn it, why is he so defensive about the delay. Murder charges, the man accused of driving his car into a crowd killing one person and injuring 19 makes a court appearance, facing multiple felony charges. As some who know