David Gura hosts coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Opportunity for a politicians challenger. In this case it is a democrat named nate mcmurray. I reached out to him a couple of hours ago and got this statement. He says this. It is absolutely true that Chris Collins should not be running for this or any other seat, a fact that the local Republican Party knew full well when they endorsed and celebrated him while he was under investigation for securities fraud. So the question now is, if this seat, this safe republican seat is now in jeopardy, can the democrat, nate mcmurray, raise enough money, secure enough outside support, and then win over enough rightleaning voters to pick up this seat and unseat any republican challenger, if it is Chris Collins or someone else . We have to see if that will be the case. One thing we know for sure is that democrats know all too well they only have to flip about two dozen seats to take back control of the house, david. Jeff bennet, thank you very much. Jeff bennet covers the white house at nbc news. With me is blake and michelle goldberg, a columnist for the new york times. Michelle, lets start with these tweets. The president saying i saw that. Think we all did. Calling his Attorney General here, scared stiff, missing in action. The White House Press secretary i assume would say that the president is just voicing an opinion. Weve heard it from his personal attorneys as well. What do you make of this . As i say, the attacks have piled up, jeff citing the one in a couple of weeks ago in which the president is calling on the Attorney General to end this investigation. How does it hang the narrative of the tweet today . My assumption when he says Jeff Sessions is scared stiff he is projecting, right. I think theres an increasing frenzy in his tweets which could be due to the fact that roger stone, who has as much to do with his political career as any person living, is very likely about to get indicted soon. Theres been papa rarade of wits of people against roger stone coming before the grand jury. One of the keys to the russia inclusion narrative is roger stone. If he is about to get indicted
trump tower has reason to be as freaked out as he is. The pinstriped key to the investigation. Blake, i want your perspective on this as well. As michelle mention, you had three people interacting with the grand jury this week. One decided not to testify and he was held in contempt by a judge in washington, d. C. Your perspective there, blake, on the role that roger stone is playing now in this investigation . Well, notice, it is funny. If this kind of thing had happened in private and some, you know, journalistic outlet, say msnbc, report that the president said this privately, it would be a huge story. The fact he is just venting on twitter is so bizarre because it makes it seem like hes a passive observer of his own presidency. He does have the power to fire Jeff Sessions if he wants to, but the reason he is not going to do it is because it is politically dicey. I think republicans would have a cow if he did it. So here he is sitting in bedminster in the rain, cant golf, and hes just blowing off steam on twitter. It is amazing. Michelle, Lets Get Meta here. I started the day wondering if we would hear from the president About Charlottesville as we approached the anniversary. I looked at the schedule for the weekend and there was nothing on it that would indicate there would be a formal statement. Hes having a photo op with bikers in bedminster today, and we get a short statement, if you can call it that, on twitter About Charlottesville. What do you make of the way he is using these medium for things like that, things of great import . He has cheapened the discourse in many ways in the country, but there are things that merit something more than that and were not seeing him use it for that purpose. Well, i mean, of course. He is a person who does not have the dignity or gravitas necessary for this job. You know, i mean i guess this statement is maybe about as good as you could expect from him, but it is not saying very much. Basically saying all sorts of racism is only a degree or two removed from, you know, bad people on both sides, right. He still cant call out antiblack racism in particular, or neonaziism in particular. Theres a date of Unite The Right rally in washington, a repeat sort of the charlottesville demonstration, and a time when the person he used throughout the campaign is saying, no, actually he is a bigot and misogynist. I got to ask you about that blake and michelle. I will give you a hachance to te a bite of that. You are talking about omarosas book that has been leaked and there will be the interview as well coming up. Let me get your perspective on the role that omarosa played for the short time she was a part of it. Michelle talking about the bona fides she offered when she was a part of the race. What do you make of this . I think it is causing quite a
stir already. Shes really a character straight out of reality tv. I think it is fascinating that she observed these things while she was on The Apprentice and yet she chose to work in his administration. I think it is further irony that here is someone with probably more Government Experience than anyone else in the white house and by all accounts she did very little while she was there. There was a story about how she piled up shoes in the white house and people had to trip over them. So i dont think she is really missed in the west wing. Certainly with this memoire she is not making friends in the white house now. At the center of the book, michelle, is the search for this tape. She maintains it exists, of the president using the nword when he was on The Apprentice. I will go back to a question i have been using here, thinking about it throughout the day. What changes if that tape exists . If we hear that tape. You have thought about what changed after that access Hollywood Tape came to life. In terms of a picture of this president as he thinks about race and talks about race, what changes if that tape exists . Look, i dont think any of us need omarosa or a secret recording to tell Us Donald Trump is a racist, although if the tape exists it might make it harder for some of his defenders to insist hes not a racist, which some are still trying to do. There are still people in the Republican Party, and i guess the hypocrisy is the death of virtue you know, hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. There you go. They pretend to think racism is shameful even as they enable it. The emergence of this tape will make it that much harder to separate themselves from the kind of blatantly White Nationalist cast of this administration. Michelle, quickly here, you have been traveling the country a lopt, looking at divisions in the democratic party. Let me talk about what we have seen in kansas. We havent talked about the
gubernatorial, but it is a thin margin that separates them. Chris kobach now recusing himself. What does it tell you about what happens in november. On the republican side, it is nice to see others realizing kobach is not a good actor when it comes to voter fraud when it is used against them. What it tells us is what we have known all along, right, which is that the democrats would crawl over broken glass to vote against donald trump. They are incredibly fired up. Even though, you know, it was disappointing they didnt win in ohio, they will get another chance in three months. I think you see that republicans, although trump still has his base, that base is not a majority of the country and parts of it are at least disspis i Thinke Disspis disspirited. I think it looks better to be
democrat right now. In every part of the country i have seen, particularly women, whose lives have been transformed by their revulsion of donald trump, who wake up who never paid close attention to local politics before, but who now work about thinking about what they can do to flip their districts. I will pull up the latest from the cook political seat. Under solid seats for democrats, 181. Looking at republican, 153. Looking at likely lean seats, 21 to 53. The Cook Political Report giving democrats more reason for optimism i should say. Michelle goldberg and Blake Shelton of political magazine. Thank you for joining me. Coming back with a counter offer, the ultimatum from the president s lawyers that they negotiate a sitdown interview with Robert Mueller. Morning. Morning. What do we got . Keep an eye on that branch. Might get windy. Have a good shift. Fire pit. Last use 0600. Id stay close. Morning. Get ready to switch. Protected by flo. Should say, protected by alan and jamie. Right . Should it . When you bundle home and auto. Run, alan . You get more than just savings. You get roundtheclock protection. You get more than just savings. Ive been Making Blades here at gillette for 20 years. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making americas 1 shave. Precision machinery and highquality materials from around the world. Nobody else even comes close. Now starting at 7. 99. Gillette. The best a man can get. One theme thats been consistent for months, the president s attorneys stalling on his interview with Robert Mueller. Here is Rudy Guilliani and jay sekulow defending their client, the president. Flynn is the example. No crime. If it had been said, the president says, go easy on him. Which the president says, you know, he said he didnt say stop it, dont to it. So, no crime. However, It Didnt Take place according to the president. According to comey it did. Now, we have of course, if it did, it wouldnt have mattered, but youre right. If theres two different recollection goes of a meeting, now you set up a perjury situation. Correct. Joining me is ned price, former assistant to president obama and National Security analyst. Also with me is guy lewis, a former u. S. Attorney. Let me start with you, guy, giving context to the audio we just heard. The president s attorneys not busy enough, decided to fill in for their friend sean hannity on
his radio show, a chance to hear them talking about the case and what they think the grounds are for any criminality. Let me get your perspective on that. This has been a week in which they filled in for sean hannity. There was a moment earlier in the week when jay sekulow, who despite managing the president s case, managed to guest a show and had as a guest the cocounsel. What do you make of the way theyre managing the case publicly. It is clear to me theres never ever in a million years going to be an interview between bob mueller and his team and the president of the United States. I mean how long have they been negotiating now . Eight months. There you go, almost a year. Were closing in on a year, back and forth. Bob mueller, frankly, needs to just go ahead and say, thank you very much, youre going to be interviewed on my terms. I did this for a long time. Prosecutors, look, it is it is okay to be reasonable, to be fair. You need to do that. But at some point you have to put your foot down and say, i
appreciate it, i respect that youre the president , but we need to either move forward with this interview or im going to issue a Grand Jury Subpoena for you to testify and i will compel your appearance. Ned price, i want to go to the tweet that i referenced at the top there. The president saying that his Attorney General is missing in action. This is not the first time we have seen the president call out Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions explicitly on twitter. It happened most memorably about a week and a half ago when we had the president s White House Press secretary say, this isnt a direct order. It is the president spouting opinion. Rudy guilliani, the president s personal attorney, saying, we all know now it is how the president using twitter, as his conduit of expressing his opinion. What do you make of the president doing that after the tempest that kicked up a week and a half ago . What is so interesting is that Jeff Sessions is missing in action for a simple reason, he is recused from the investigation. If he were involved in the investigation, if he had a handson approach to this
investigation, that would be something that the Department Of Justice would have to take up. It could lead to some upheaval within the department itself. So it is quite appropriate that in this case Jeff Sessions is absent from this. I know that the president is frustrated by that, but that gets back to the core question. Why does President Trump want Jeff Sessions to have a handson approach to this . Why does the president feel it is necessary to have someone, a loyalist like Jeff Sessions essentially babysit this investigation . That does not bode well for President Trumps knowledge of the facts surrounding this case if he feels that he needs someone there to manage them. If he feels that he needs someone there to ensure that everything is going according to his plan, that suggests there is something there that the president does not want to come to light, that the president does not want to get out, that the president does not want to go awry. Guy lewis, you know well it is a complex case. There are a lot of moving parts
here. We have seen in recent weeks Robert Mueller kicking things over to the Southern District in new york, having others work on some of the things that he has discovered. Im going to read here another tweet from the president today. The big story that the Fake News Media refuses to report is lowlife Christopher Steeles many meetings with deputy a. G. Bruce ohr and his beautiful wife, nelly. Im sure she appreciates the compliment. It was fusion gps that hired steele to write the phoney and discredited dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the dnc. I want to return to this that is being argued in the court of public opinion. What were seeing as the weeks wear on is the president and Rudy Guilliani and jay sekulow i would say expertly trying to distill or whittle down what they hope were focusing on here. Were returning again to the dossier, Christopher Steele is this hot Watch Button Issue that the president likes to bring up. What is your counsel about what to Pay Attention as all of this continues . David, so bob mueller is
strategic. He is smart. He is experienced. He is a former u. S. Attorney. He knows how to run these investigations. So lets take a step back. Hes got Paul Manafort right now in the crosshairs. Manafort is going to be found guilty. I would bet the house on that. Then the question is does the president pardon him, does he go to jail, does he cooperate. Big, big issue there. Hes now focused, bob mueller is now focused on one of the political operatives, who allegedly was involved in some of this russia shenanigans business. Stone, who is a dirty tricks guy, is now in the crosshair. Is he going to get indicted . We know that in down in virginia, in alexandria they sealed very interesting, didnt get a lot of press, but rick gates tried to testify to this questionandanswer session, the prosecutors objected to it. They sealed it. The judge said, im going to seal it because theres an
ongoing investigation. That is what i think is coming around here, which is additional cases, additional indictments, additional defendants. Ned price, last question to you. A lot of democrats were saying let it follow its course, let it play out. I would say a lot of republicans are saying that as well. Congressman devin nunes from california is not one of them. He sits on the House Select Committee on intelligence. Rachel maddow obtained a tape from him at fundraiser about the russia investigation. Lets listen to what he was recorded saying. If sessions wont unrecuse and mueller wont clear the president , were the only ones, which is really the danger. I mean we have to keep all of these seats. We have to keep the majority. If we do not keep the majority, all of this goes away. Spelling that out there in very explicit terms, im going to read a couple of the highlights because the audio was tough to hear. Sessions wont unrecuse and mueller wont clear the president , we are the only ones. What does that tape tell you, ned price, of the outlook of some republicans here on this investigation . Well, the problem, david, is that devin nunes is not a bystander in all of this. He is the chair of the house intelligence committee, one of the two u. S. Committees on capitol hill that are investigating these series of crimes from russian hacking to everything else. So the fact that he is broadcasting for everyone to see and for everyone to hear, the fact that he is essentially putting his finger on the scale for the president is pretty remarkable. At the same time, we didnt learn anything from that tape we didnt know before, at least that we couldnt observe before. It was last year when devin nunes first ran to the white house, created this whole unmasking scandal in an effort to defend the president. When it comes to the hearings within the house intelligence committee, he has served as a de facto Defense Attorney for the president , crossexamining witnesses to the president s
defense. Of course, he was responsible for the memo that was put out that started the war of Duelling Memos that attempted to exonerate the president , that attempted to essentially impugn the fbi, to impugn the Department Of Justice and to leave the president free and clear. So devin nunes has been very clear from the start. He is not serving as an impartial arbiter on the house intelligence committee. He is serving very clearly as a strident ally of the president , something that should worry all of us. I always love talking to both of you. Ned price, thank you for the time on this saturday. My thanks to guy lewis as well. A State Of Emergency in charlottesville as the city prepares for a solemn anniversary this weekend. One year later, has anything changed . How the president is remembering last years clashes between White Supremacists and counterprotesters and what it means for Race Relations in america today. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens brown paper packages tied up with strings these are a few of My Favorite Things these are a few of My Favorite Things ancestrydna can open you to a world of new cultures to explore. With two times more detail than any other dna test. You can get a new taste of your heritage. Save 40 with our lowest price ever. Sharper vision, without limits. Days that go from sun up to sun down. A whole world in all its beauty. Three Innovative Technologies for our ultimate in vision, clarity, and protection. Together in a single lens. Essilor ultimate lens package. Purchase the Essilor Ultimate Lens Package and get a second pair of qualifying lenses free. Essilor. Better sight. Better life. I better not go any further. Do you feel betrayed by omarosa, sir . Low life. Shes a low life. President trump there at his Bedminster Estate just moments ago for a Photo Opportunity with bikers who have visited him there, talking about the media. I guess we have some ways to go there with the bikers, gaining their trust and support. Talking about Omarosa Manigault newman as well, his former adviser in the white house, she was in the office of public liaison. Shes written A New Memoire yet to be publish. That is coming out this week. Asked about her he said, holding his hand to his mouth, a low life. She is a low life. The president spending this vacation at his estate in bedminster, new jersey. Hes calling it an 11day working vacation, saying hes there because of longscheduled renovations at the white house, in effect saying he had to be there. Well, the fraud case against Donald Trumps former Campaign ManagerPaul Manafort is expected to draw to a close on
monday. This after an unexpected and unexplained recess on friday. Court is expected to begin at 1 00 on monday afternoon, and according to sources the prosecution will rest its case after a dozen witnesses and nine days of testimony. Alltold, Paul Manafort stands accused of hiding more than 16 million from the irs, allegedly spend it on luxury items. Both sides asked the judge for two hours of closing arguments, and if convicted Paul Manafort could possibly spend the rest of his life in prison. Joining me is carrie johnson, a Justice Correspondent with npr, and jamiel javer is the founder of National Security institute at george mason law. Carrie, let me start with you. You have been covering this case day in and day out. Give us your take on the State Of Play here. We heard from rick gates this week. We learned during crossexamination about his extramarital affairs. You saw defense trying to cast aspersions on him, question his reliability as a witness. We had this kind of astonishing apology from the judge in this
case as well. Judge t. S. Ellis iii is known for his reposts, what he said to lawyers in this case. What is the significance of the apology, what he said to lawyers later in the week . Well, the judge was asked to issue what is called a corrective instruction because prosecutors raised alarms about something the judge had said being possibly prejudicial to their case right in front of the jury. The judge eventually said he might have been wrong. He didnt look at the transcript and he probably was wrong, but told jurors to put that whole issue out of their minds. The problem is, david, the following day the judge said another thing and prosecutors have another outstanding motion asking the judge to fix another thing that he said with respect to an element of their Bank Fraud Case against Paul Manafort. As of friday, that very abbreviated day, the judge did not say anything, at least in public, to the jury to try to fix that statement. The problem, according to prosecutors, is this. The judge keeps making these remarks, popping off in front of the jury, but also rushing
prosecutors through their case. They want to make sure that this is an airtight case that goes to that jury. Jamiel jacksonvilver, i want your perspective. What is your take away of what you have read of the arguments . It is a strong case against manafort. He has obviously engaged in activities to hide his income and not pay his taxes. The challenge now is that theyve done a good job undermining rick gates and his credibility and he is the star witness. We will see what the defense puts on next week, but as of right now it is a tough case against manafort himself for the bank and tax fraud charges. Carrie, about that, rick gates goes on the stand. We got a preview of this when the defense gave their opening statement. It was clear the strategy they would use to call into question the reliability of rick gates. They dug into his personal life a little bit when he was on the stand. How successfully or easily was the prosecution able to bounceback from that . We saw from rick gates a return to those who know about his
banking history, those who know about his finances, and we were told it was going to be a documentsheavy case from the very beginning. How much of a hiccup was that focus on the personal life of rick gates . Rick gates was a probleprobl witness for the government, in part because he alleged stole money with Paul Manafort and he also stole money from Paul Manafort, or at least from the ukrainians that were paying them both. Then rick gates also had personal problems that came out on the witness stand. But if you hear the government tell it, theyve now put on over nine days, more than 25 witnesses. Those witnesses include Paul Manaforts longtime bookkeeper, who testified he, Paul Manafort, approved every penny of every expense. They include an accountant who says she was misled by Paul Manafort. That evidence also includes emails tying Paul Manafort to some of the offshore accounts to pay Season Tickets for the new york yankees, to pay for luxury goods like the Couture Bills for his ostrich coat and
other things. It is not just a onewitness case, no matter how the defense would like to label it that. That means the defense will have to try to undermine some of the Documentary Evidence that the government has had. It has not yet done so so far, so the question is whether theyre going to try the put on some experts this week the talk about accounting or tax issues or just try to rest here and leave it to the jury to figure out whether the government has met its burden of proof. Carrie, we will be back in alexandria this week. Thank you very much for your reporting. Jamiel javers, thank you for joining me on this saturday as women. It has been a year since Heather Hyers tragic death since the White Nationalist rally in charlottesville. The president has issued this single tweet acknowledging the deadly incident from a year ago and condemning all types of racism as he puts it. Nbcs cal perry is on the ground in charlottesville where the city is under a State Of Emergency with a law Law Enforcement presence as
officials prepare for more protests this weekend. Cal, i want to ask you just what is happening in charlottesville this weekend. I know there was a Memorial Service this morning. Just give us a sense of how people are marking this tragic anniversary. Reporter theres going to be a few events tonight run by the university of virginia, healing events as theyre calling it, events to remember what happened a year ago. A big part of the remembrance is what we want to show you right now, what happened to Heather Heyer. 32 years old. She was standing on this road right here. You will remember that incredibly violent video of the car plowing into that crowd of people, and so a great deal of the remembrance this weekend is going to be remembering her, remembering her life, and for this town remembering what it was that she stood for, standing up as people see it here against white nationalism, the exact thing that were likely to see tomorrow in washington, d. C. Not likely to happen again in charlottesville this year because of the unprecedented
security. 1,000 police. Were on the other end of the mall. We have shown you the security earlier today. We want to show you what the security allowed, which is for a very quiet day in Downtown Charlottesville here in the mall, which is, frankly, what people wanted this weekend as opposed to, of course, david, what we saw last year. Cal perry, my colleague, in charlottesville, virginia for us this weekend. Thank you very much. Hundreds of migrant kids still without their parents this weekend after they were separated from them at the u. S. mexico border. How many are still in custody and why it has taken so long for the government the reunite these families. Stop fearing your alarm clock. With new zzzquil pure zzzs. A drugfree blend of botanicals with melatonin. That supports your Natural Sleep cycle. So you can seize the morning. New zzzquil pure zzzs. You know how painful heartburn can be. For fastacting, longlasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. It quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. Relieve heartburn with fast acting, longlasting gaviscon. And helps keep acid down for hours. I was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush. But my hygienist said going electric could lead to way Cleaner Teeth. She said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. For Cleaner Teeth and healthier gums. And unlike sonicare, oralb is the First Electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. What an amazing clean ill only use an oralb oralb. Brush like a pro. Booking a flight doesnt have to be expensive. Just go to priceline. Its the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40 . Just tap and go. For the best savings on flights,
go to priceline. An important up tate now. New Court Filings show that hundreds of Migrant Children remain separated from their parents along our nations southern border. 559 kids are still in u. S. Government custody according to my colleague jacob soboroff. 365 of them had their parents deported. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is hitting a road block after deciding the
domestic and Gang Violence cannot be used as a reason for seeking asylum. U. S. District judge Emmet Sullivan this week halting the deportation of a mother and daughter, ordering them to be flown back to the United States. The woman is fleeing sexual and Gang Violence according to a lawsuit filed in part by the American Civil Liberties union. The judge even threatened in all caps to hold Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions in Contempt Of Court for deporting a plaintiff in an ongoing case. The governments latest plan is for the State Department to locate the deported parents. The aclu will then have to track them down and determine if they want reunification. If so, the government will be responsible for transporting the children back to their country of origin. Coming up, charlottesville preparing for a tough anniversary this weekend as the city declares a State Of Emergency. Were taking a look at Race Relations in america one year after the violence in charlottesville. Morning. Morning. What do we got . Keep an eye on that branch. Might get windy. Have a good shift. Fire pit. Last use 0600. Id stay close. Morning. Get ready to switch. Protected by flo. Should say, protected by alan and jamie. Right . Should it . When you bundle home and auto. Run, alan . You get more than just savings. You get roundtheclock protection. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on is boost®. Delicious boost® high protein nuritional drink now has 33 more protein, along with 26 Essential Vitamins and minerals boost® high protein. Be up for life. To find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. So you barely have to lift a finger. Or a wing. Tripadvisor. Ive been Making Blades here at gillette for 20 years. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making americas 1 shave. Precision machinery and highquality materials from around the world. Nobody else even comes close. Now starting at 7. 99. Gillette. The best a man can get. Unite the right tell onstraighters and counterprotesters prepare to descend on charlottesville and washington after last years deadly events, where do Race Relations stand across the United States. I want to bring in Political Editor for the root. Com and Charlottesville City Council member jason bell. You made the pilgrimage to your alma mart alma mater this weekend, jason. What do us expect to see over the course of the weekend . I am a uva alum. It was a Terrorist Attack on the United States of america, and i really want to see how the community was responding. Ive been to, unfortunately, too many places in this either individually like the young man Richard Collins killed at university of Maryland College park 15 minutes from where i live or ferguson, missouri, where sort of military Police AttackedPeaceful Protesters and i wanted to see if there was substance of change happening here and i must admits ever, in the time ive been here, the level of self reflection in this community is much better than other places. They seem concerned about not having the problems continue. Maybe because it is was White Nationalist or the race of the victim but it seems like charlottesville is making changes and that is something i feel optimistic about. Wes, bellamy, on that note, how has that conversation
changed and loomed large in charlottesville, virginia. Well first, thanks for having me and i would be re miss if i didnt give also much respect and power to sister Heather Heyer who lost her lives and the two offers who lost her lives. In regards to the conversation in charlottesville, there is an awakening to say the least. When i first started back in March Of 2016 we need to remove the statutes of robert e. Lee and change the name of the pork and move forward with open spaces and in all of our public spaces people were saying i was causing trouble and stirring things up and the worp the wo thing that happened to charlottesville and these werent here until i talked about it on council and now that someone died but to be quite frank a lot of white people who recognize only the priv li th privilege and the bias a systemic oppressive state here in charlottesville for far too
long and we now are truly dealing with. It i think unfortunately the events of last summer ripped the band aid off of what truly was going on and when we took off that band aid, we realized that while we thought it was a small cut, it was a deep wound. And you dont fix that wound overnight. You need surgery. So were doing the true work, the true surgical work to make sure our Community Heals the right way but it doesnt happen overnight so weve seen conversations in classrooms and in grocery stores, barber shops, city council meetings, and everywhere you go you hear people talking about the issues that we have in our community. And bringing forth action behind our words. Jason, when ive gone to charlottesville what struck me is how many parts of it owe of it are frozen in history and you walk the lawn and see history and then how progressive of a place it is, the seed of albemarle county. And how that ta is that takin place and we were having a
conversation a while ago about the Confederate Monuments Symbolize a year after the protests, are we better than we have been before. It depends on who you ask. Because to be honest, when i hear conversations about healing, any doctor will tell you, you cant hear heal if you dont have a diagnosis. And there is process but you have the vinegar hill neighborhood that was a neighborhood destroyed by the use of sort of White Nationalist principals and imminent domain to kick black people off their land. That was recent, in the 50s and 60s. So talk about the more recent problems but until there is real change in the distribution of political resources and Economic Resources i like those conversations are happening and i spoke to the foundations and
changes in how grants are distributed and a City Councilman said it is a long process. So just talking is step one. The true healing, that is going to take years. Wes, how has the town dealt with the National Spotlight shown on the city while all of this happening and been on it since and we a associate charlottesville in part with this. Ill read the president s tweet from this morning. The riots in charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division and we must come together as a nation and i condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to all americans. Do you want the National Spotlight to continue . How much of your towns healing is going to be done internally as a town and does the National Spotlight help or hurt . Well, first let me say this. Our community is not defined by, nor do we care, if 45 decides to wish us well. Honestly, im shocked that hes not on the side of the nazis
this year. So i guess that is a good thing. If you ever could think we should be proud that the president of the United States is not saluting and being happy that or saying there are good people on both sides this year, that is something for us to be proud of. Im not. But in any event, when we look at our where our community is and weve become a hashtag in some regards but were hoping to be a model for the country. When you look at, as my brother just talked about, the distribution of resources within our Community Last year, i was able to pass this Equity Package 4. 5 million in resources from our budget to underresourced communities so you had job training and resources and education and 150,000 grant to our africanamerican Heritage Center and 2. 5 million to the Development Fund and that is what it takes and so as a community when we talk about the issues we hope that we could show other cities that is one thing to talk about it but you have to be able to put resources behind it as a city or as a
community. And further along with that, we want to be able to show people that any city can have a White Supremacist attack but you dont just have an attack or clowns come to your city and try to take it over. But what matters is you stand up and fight back with not just your fist but with your policy and actions. And we as a city took a punch in the face last year but didnt lose the fight. We got back up and fighting and standing tall together and well continue to move Forward Together because that is who we are as a community. Were not where we want to be but heading in the right direction. Well leave it there. Thank you for joining me from charlottesville, virginia on this saturday. And stay with msnbc. Tomorrow is the one year mark of the clashes between protesters and White Nationalists in charlottesville and well be sharing the story of a former white suppose recommend tift who dedicated his life to helping other and you could watch
breaking hate right here on msnbc. And well be right back. And American Express has your back every step of the way whether its the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. Or getting financing to fund your business. No one has your back like American Express. So where ever you go. Were right there with you. The powerful backing of American Express. Dont do business without it. Dont live life without it. Heres a trip tip when you Search Hotels on tripadvisor. Enter your destination and the dates of your stay. Tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites. To find the best deal on the right hotel for you. Tripadvisor