Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson 20170818

At this stage, we just dont know. As we get more information, we will update you. Hallie. Thank you. Lets just reiterate here. We do not know whether terror was a part of what happened in finland. We do know that several people have been hurt. Obviously, this is all coming in to us. Were going to stay on top of this story and bring you the breaking updates as we get them. But, again, still a lot we dont know here. Were also going to stay overseas with another incident that unfolded in spain. You have barcelona and we know that those are related to terror, according to authorities on the ground. Kristen is there live. Give us the latest on the investigation, the arrest and the victims. Hi, there, hallie. Still a lot in motion today. I want to start, if we can, sneak through here and show you some of whats been building here along this promenade. These memorial sort of scattered as you walk down. Almost as if they are where people fell here yesterday. 13 dead here in barcelona. And you can see the candles, the stuffed animals. Remember that there is a child among those still missing. So, just a horrible, horrible attack. As you can see, people here gathered today. Really to pay their respects. Theyve been writing these messages to the victims. Also some of those messages mention some of the other places where there have been these vehicle attacks like in nice. So, people very aware of the broader sort of, how this has been happening in places around europe. Theyve been chanting, also, i am not afraid. Really a message that theyre going to continue to come out. All of that as this investigation continues. There has been now a fourth arrest, but police havent said yet who that is that theyve arrested. The driver of the van has still been on the loose. And keep in mind there were three vans rented in the name of that suspect. One of the van ended up here. A second believed to be the get away van was found outside of barcelona and then this third unaccounted for. Police have been working for the last 24 hours or so to try to locate that van and also try to connect the dots. There was an explosion the night before this attack at a house about 100 miles away from here. And its believed now the working theory is that this terror cell was working on some type of explosive attack. And when that went terribly wrong and that house exploded they then switched gears to this vehicle attack. The witnesses i talked to described just a horrific scene. The vehicle going upwards of 50 Miles Per Hour and weaving and hitting as many people as possible. Tourists continue to gather here today to pay their respects. Kristen dahlgren live, thank you. Kelly odonnell who is traveling with the president in new jersey as he gets ready to leave for camp david. Here on set terror analyst and cofounder of flashpoint and our panel for the hour New York Times political reporter nick and jennifer, bloombergs white house correspondent. Thank you, all, for being here. Ill go to you first because i want to get your reaction to the news that we have reported out over the last couple minutes here. So, i mean, what were seeing yesterday in barcelona. We saw that a more complicated, more complex plot has unfolded connecting three different scenes, three different types of attacks essentially to the same cell. Reports suggested that it was maybe one, two people. But as the events unfolded we saw it is connected to an explosion and we saw its connected to the resort right after. And, so, obviously, a manhunt for one of the suspects who is still on the loose. But five people including the one, thats six. It makes it a little bit more complicated. Obviously, we still dont know whether these individuals were connected to isis and this was an orchestrated plan or they were inspired. But certainly the methods that were used is something that isis encouraged. This is not the lone wolf attack weve seen in the past. More organizationally complicated and the location where it happened, too. We dont often, we havent in a long time heard about this kind of thing happening in spain. Why now . Look, isis has already struck in multiple locations in europe. Spain has not been struck by isis. This is the first claim of responsibility that it takes credit for. But i think spain hoeltdz this historic value for radical islamest factions going back 1,000 years spain was under the islamic rule and today what isis preaches in its ideology we want to conquer spain and we want to seize it back 1,000 years later. What would spanish officials be doing now . Im not asking you to judge the response, but at this point one attacker on the loose. This manhunt, allout manhunt happening for that individual. And youve got the potential, as youre talking about, for more. Whats the advice that you would be giving . These types of attacks are extremely difficult to intercept and foil. However, after the fact, what authorities can do is go into what these victims have been doing. Who have they been communicating with and what sort of social media footprint and what kind of Electronic Devices have they been able to seize and what kind of communication with potential terror cells and groups outside of spain. I want to bring in Kelly Odonnell who is in bridgewater, new jersey, not far from bedminister where the president is for the next 30 minutes or so. We know weve seen the president tweeting this morning and reaction from the white house and the president to reaction to what happened in spain. Can you tell us the latest . It gives us a reflection of the president s mindset and reflection today. As he heads to camp david today for several hours where hell be working on issues that relate to americas longest war in afghanistan and, of course, when you look at that at the 30,000 foot level it connects to the very real issues that are happening right now with terrorism. The president tweeting today in sort of different, three different installments that give us a sense of what hes thinking. Homeland security and Law Enforcement on alert and watching for any sign of trouble he writes. Oour borders are far tougher than ever before. That is sort of the tone of reassurance for the president trying to suggest that the police and Law Enforcement posture is high here. Then a political one where he uses his term, the obstructionist democrats make security for our country very difficult. They use courts and associated delays at all time must stop. The final one weve seen in just the last several minutes. Radical islamist terrorism must be stopped by whatever means necessary. The courts must give us back our protective rights. Reference to the travel ban that has been so mired in the legal process. The president today has some very challenging issues to review with his National Security team about the kind of force presence he wants to have in afghanistan Going Forward and all of this connects to how you protect the homeland. Of course, he has with him a new white house chief of staff who has been deeply imeshed in Homeland Security over the past six months. Thats an opportunity for the president to get some insight away from his new jersey home in facility. Kelly odonnell live for us in bridgewater. Ill see you later this afternoon. Nick and jen. Let me ask you about the president s response to this because kelly makes an interesting point about his head space, as he goes into this critical meeting talking about National Security and talking about how to protect americans here at home. Look, the president always seems to react to these incidents in terms of how they affect him. And as a referendum on him. And its kind of a strange response from our president. Were kind of used to this theater of reassurance from president s. He tends to see everything as a referendum on him. Is he being criticized . Is his agenda being criticized . With the Border Security and the visa ban, its not entirely clear that there is a close connection between that policy and more security. You dont see that as being reassuring to people . Listen, im sure for some people it is reassuring. It is reassuring if we shut our borders to these countries. I think that this is the president trying to use this incident or this string of incidents as a way to kind of back up the policies that he has been pushing for and i think thats something that he thinks can be a good lever for him is to say, look at all the bad things happening around the world. We need this travel ban. We needs the courts to stop obstructing me. We need the democrats to stop obstructing me and it kind of becomes, you know, that thing that a lot of politicians do on both sides of the aisle, not to do both sides here. But, you know, and people do in life in general. They take events that happened and they try to use them to their advantage. Sort of analyst perspective here. When you look at how the u. S. Responded or is responding from the white house perspective to what has happened internationally to the terror attacks overseas. Does anything stand out or surprise you . I agree with the guests and i think the response has been, if anything, underwhelming and very discouraging, if you will. The president of the United States a position for a very long time has been to stand, unify and provide support to allies who are in distress in these times of crises. But i think using these kind of tragedies to score political points is not something that we want to see the president of the United States, the strongest Political Office in the world do. So, we talk about the president s response to whats happening internationally and also talking about the president s response to what has unfolded here at home and specifically to the reaction in charlottesville. This morning what you could call a reaction here. You certainly would call a reaction from mitt romney who is long out with this facebook statement or statement he put out calling this a defining moment for President Trump. But he says much more than that, a moment that will define america in the hearts of our children. Fine. Mitt romney has not always backed President Trump, but you know who has, bob corker. Heres what he had to say. Im hoping we will get that bob corker sound. He basically questioned the president s competency questioning whether this is the stability that this country needs. Nick and jen, when you look at how not just bob corker, who campaigned for the president jeff flake and Lindsey Graham are reacting now. What is the strategy here . How does the president sort of get around this or move past this . Will we see more at these town halls today from senator ted cruz and others as they get questions from voters. Jen . I think for republican members of congress who have been generally supportive of his agenda, theyre at a point where they cant really defend him on this. For a lot of them, anyway, they are not okay with the way that hes handled the past week. And they cant lie about it. Let me, also, its not the political sphere, you have athletes, kevin durant came out and said if he gets invited to the white house hes not going. Heather heyers mom coming out and talking on Good Morning America about this idea that the president has been trying to get in touch with her. We know the white house and you were at that gaggle yesterday with the white house official. The interaction where they said, yes, were working on setting up a phone call. Heres what Heather Heyers mother had to say about that. Im not talking to the president now. Im sorry. After what he said about my child and its not that i saw somebody elses tweets about him, i saw an actual clip of him at a press conference equating the protesters like ms. Heyer. He had his chance and he blew it. He blew it last weekend. He had a chance to be what a president often is in these circumstances. You know, imagine back in the attacks in south carolina. President obama sang Amazing Grace in that church and then compare that to the Trump Press Conference at trump tower. Night and day. Far beyond what we normally expect from our leaders and its hard to blame her. Can you step back and give us the big picture. Look, a lot happening this week and a lot happening overnight when you look at what we were talking about with the terror attacks in spain and look whats happening here at home. What to you say to americans and people around the world who are feeling really unsettled and uncomfortable with what theyre watching. I wish i was in the president s position to address the United States and the world and unify and bring it together, but i do think that everybody is on edge. These terror attacks have been unfolding over the past several years and as isis is suffocating more and more of its territory, youll see an increase as a result. I would say stay vigilant and stay hopeful that we will ultimately defeat this. Its just a matter of defeating it militarily and also winning the hearts and minds. Laith, thank you very much for joining us on set. A much deeper dive into the methodology behind these terror attacks that weve been seeing the last several years. We also have later in the show a look at what the president is doing at camp david not just talking about terrorism but the new u. S. Strategy for the war in afghanistan. We are previewing that meeting what it could mean for americas longest war, when we come back. Crohns disease. Youre more than just a bathroom disease. Youre a life of unpredictable symptoms. Crohns, youve tried to own us. But now its our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohns disease. Studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. Stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. 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Xfinity, the future of awesome. We have some developling news for you. Youre taking a live look at secretary of state Rex Tillerson speaking at the state department and within the last two minutes or so he talked about the american person killed in the terror attacks in spain. The secretary saying that the state department is still confirming the injuries and deaths of others, but, obvious laerx they express their deepest sympathieies to the loved ones this individual. Secretary tillerson dealing with what he calls a very, very tough few days ahead of them. After secretary tillerson wraps up these remarks. Again, youre looking at them live from the state department. Hes going to be heading to camp david in western maryland joining the president and other members of the National Security team as they talk strategy for the war in afghanistan. 20 minutes from now, President Trump will be on his way leaving bedin so minister. When will we get a decision on how he plans to wind down americas longest war . Heres defense secretary james mattis. We are coming very close to a decision and i anticipate it in the very near future. Nbc hans nichols. Nick and jen are also still with us here on set. Hans, lets talk options. What are they and what is the most likely . We dont know what the most likely is. Three options out there. One is a complete withdrawal. Very clear, hallie, from talking with officials a complete withdrawal is on the table. A partial withdrawal and this is eric prince former of blackwater and the option where you put one person in charge. You reduce u. S. Presence and you do it for less money. And then the third is the addition of another 4,000, appreciately, u. S. Troops. But i would just add on all this that the decision we have right now, which is no decision, is essentially its entirely other option. Thats the status quo. Thats where were at right now and since the general, general nickelson in february said were at a stealemate taken over two districts in afghanistan and 21 of the 34 are seeing open conflict. This is not a war as the president said in that closed door National Security meeting that the u. S. Is winning. Hallie . Hans, stick around for a minute. I want to go to ann. When you look at your reporting based on your reporting, who is on the same page and who is not . Are secretary tillerson and mattis aligned here . Well, we know, i think, more about mattis recommendations on the military side in afghanistan than we do on tillerson on the diplomatic side. In general, the three big voices of moderation within the president s National Security team tillerson, mattis and mcmaster have been arguing for some form of continuation of u. S. Military and diplomatic involvement in afghanistan. Not the complete pullout option. They keep running into the president himself who asks them in every meeting, why arent we winning . What can we do to fix this . I dont like any of these options. None of these options show me how were going to win. Thats a question that none of them can really answer because for 16 years we havent won and every u. S. Official who has been engaged in afghanistan over that time has faced a version of the same question and it used to be Standard Practice for every u. S. Official to say dont worry, were not going to pull the same thing the United States did 20 years ago and not pull out and leave you on your own. When you look at one of the options, the socalled blackwater option or what you might call it, that seems to be particularly unpalatable for people in the administration. Is that your sense . Not entirely, right. It is being considered. The fact that its being considered and it is receiving an audience at the highest level, at the National Security Council Gives you an indication of how strong the pull out this war is costing too much faction really has. To be frank, thats something we hear at the pentagon. What is the end game . What is the strategy . One of the answers you get on that is you want to have a president in that part of southern asia. They now call it the south asia strategy. You want a presence there for counterterrorism. Of the u. S. Troops you have there, about threequarters are trying to bolster the afghan government, fighting the taliban. But about 2,000 are doing purely counterterrorism operations. Thats against isis in afghanistan. And thats tragically where we had the most recent green beret die in that part of the counterterrorism operation. The tenth death this year. That exceeds what we had in all of 2016. Look at some of the numbers here. When you look at a recent poll, nick and jen. 23 of people believe were winning the war in afghanistan and 38 think were losing and only 28 of voters believe the u. S. Should boost the number of troops in afghanistan. Only 20 . So, if the president does decide to take the option of increasing the number of u. S. Troops on the ground, is there going to be a backlash politically from people here in this can uountry . The president is going to need to make a case for that decision, if thats the way he decides to go. Make a public case for that. Make a public case and say we know there is probably going to be more bloodshed. But this is the only way we can win. If thats the conclusion he reaches, which i think were going to get to in this meeting today. How much is the state department involved in this . How much is the policymaking coming out of secretary tillersons agency. Earlier this year you talked about how they planned to close an office devoted to pakistan policy and where does that stand . Its really been kind of an orphaned policy at the state department. There used to be this consolidated office originally. That did both afghanistan and pakistan at the time of the surge. This is the Richard Holbrook office. That had dwindled to a few people who had particular and that office will eventually be dismantled and there arent people in place in the relevant bureaus at the state department who are confirmed by the senate. So, its sort of, things are a bit adrift. At the same time, a clearer preference from secretary tillerson down that diplomats Pay Attention to the afghanistan, the nato engagement and other allies. Hans, very, very quickly. Im getting in my email a statement from President Trump. This is from the white house and pardon me for reading it off my phone but the elevation of cybercommand. The president directing cybercommand and potentially separating from the National Security agency, the idea of being, according to President Trump, to strengthen our cyberstrength operations and create more opportunities to improve our nations defense. Very quickly for me, your reaction to this . Weve been talking about this and a clear indication that the u. S. And the Trump Administration wants to elevate cybercommand. Think of s cyber as offense and defense and they have been sharing the computers which has been doing eavesdropping and surveillance. They can go on offense which is a real option at times and play defense and protect americas infrastructure. Thank you very much for joining me here. Were going to be turning back to barcelona after the break and a scene that is all too familiar in recent months and recent years. A vehicle used as a weapon in a terrorist attack. Can anything be done to stop it . Looking for clear answers for your Retirement Plan . Start here. Or here. 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Lifelong smart nutrition. Its all in one. Purina one. We want to get back to that breaking news we brought to you at the top of this show. Some kind of a security incident in finland. My colleague has been monitoring this from our london bureau. You have new information now. Walk us through it. Thats right. Were hearing from the police that several people were stabbed in the city of turku. Stabbing several people in the western city of turku. They warned people on the twitter account to stay away from the city center and they said that they reinforced security at the airport and the train stations and around the country following the stabbing. Weve got some video that has come out from a building that was above the scene of that incident and screaming and shouting and people fleeing the scene. Were not sure exactly what is going on there. We have to stress, we dont know what the motive of this incident was. Whether it was terrorism or some sort of crime or somebody that was unhinged and committing some sort of crime. But, the local newspapers, now, these are not confirmed, hallie. Local media there are reporting that one person was killed. Theyre saying that six people were injured. One man, five women. Five men, one woman was injured. They say the woman was walking with a stroller and she was attacked by a man with a large knife. Other witnesses say that they saw a body lyiiying on the grou that had been covered pup finland is not a country that has seen many terrorist attacks. Thats why we have to go with some caution here unlike other european countries. It hasnt seen many terrorist attacks. But they have become increasingly worried of their attacks in neighboring sweden and russia and taken a hard line on immigration. Again, that video showing people screaming and shouting on the street there and fleeing the scene. But we dont know exactly what happened on that scene. Again, when we find out exactly what the motivation for this attack was, we will update you. Hallie . Monitoring all of that as it develops from our london bureau. Thank you. We may see you later in the show with any updates. Spokesperson and Senior Adviser for the project and former cia military analyst. Tara, to you, again, we cant stress it enough. We dont know whats going on in finland. We dont know what the motive is or some of the details, a lot of the details about what happened. Always a lot of caution in asking you to talk about this here, but it is perhaps worth noting that if the state of high alert in europe after what happened in spain this is now headline news. Absolutely. Its too early to really speculate whether this was an act of terrorism or not. It is concerning because it comes on the heels of what seemed to be a highly coordinated attack in barcelona. Reports were speculative of on what it may be but it seems the last 24 hours the barcelona involved multiple people which suggests to me and intelligence reports seem to suggest, as well, some isis direction or coordination behind this. This wasnt something that was just merely inspired. Because of that, that makes the finland attack a little bit concerning, not just because it could have been a similar type of inspired attack. But it could be a copy cat on the heels of that. Thats something that Law Enforcement always remains concerned about following on a highprofile, you know, attack like we saw yesterday. Of course, finland could also be a crime and be some sort we dont know. When you bring up barcelona and talk about whats happening in spain and talk about this manhunt going and you are joining what we heard from laith earlier in the show from our analyst michael on the today show this morning. This is more complicated than people think or people assume it might have been. A more organized plot in spain. Absolutely. But, unfortunately, not surprising. We have seen isis call for these types of attacks and we have known they had operational cells in europe. A lot of the focus had been on brussels and paris and this is concern for countries all around europe for potential cells and the explosion that we saw on that house that was linked to the attack we saw with the vehicle yesterday which was then linked to another attack in another location. Suggests a high level of coordination. Obviously, they didnt really seem to have good training because many things to have gone wrong. Reports are suggesting that there may have been other plans. It could have also been that they had a plan for an attack. When those explosions went off in that house, they had to sort of modify things last minute and just do something quickly before Law Enforcement could, you know, unravel the plot. So, i do think that this was a higher level of sophistication that we saw yesterday. It remains concerning and i think as you see territory being regained in places like iraq, which we have been successful at, youll see more attacks overseas and seeing them expand or trying to expand their presence online in terms of connecting with people all over the globe because theyre losing ground and they cant operate in their operational area. So, theyre going to operate else where or try to. Nick from New York Times is with us and has a question for you. Hey, tara. Im curious about using this tactic of using vehicles to ram pedestrians. Were seeing it more and more what do you make of that as an innovation in terrorism and why isis is turning more to that tactic as opposed to shootings or bombs . Sure, youre absolutely right. The numbers are since 2006 up until yesterday, if you dont count yesterday, there were 31 vehicular terrorism attacks. Part of the reason for that. Two fold isis in their propaganda, theyre calling for individuals to use these types of attacks because it broadens the amount of individuals who have the capacity to do it. Isis is quick to embrace people outside their core operational, you know, group. So, if somebody wants to take a vehicle and carry out an attack with little to no training, little to no ties to the organization, theyre willing to claim that. And theyre willing to endorse that. And the second part is, obviously, its a lot easier to evade Law Enforcement if youre not trying to build weapons. Requires little training. If you dont really have to go through much, you can own the vehicle yourself or just rent the vehicle. I think these individuals did try to rent a larger truck. Reports are saying they didnt have the necessary permit. There was actually a safe guard in place that worked because at least the initial reports show that they were prevented from renting a truck without the necessary paperwork. There is a combination of isis calling for those attacks and the ease and simplicity of using a vehicle. Thank you very much for your perspective. I appreciate you joining us here. Thanks for having me. Well head down to kentucky where the confederate statues there will soon be coming down because the Lexington City Council made that decision overnight. Well be joined by one of the Council Members who made those monuments history. 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. Today were bringing you americas number one shave at lower prices every day. Putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. As one of those workers, im proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. Gillette the best a man can get. And lifes beautiful moments. Ns get between you flonase outperforms the 1 nondrowsy allergy pill. 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And non24 can make me show up too early. Or too late. Or make me feel like im not really there. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442342424. Your bbut as you get older,ing. It naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. Thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. The secret is an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. Seo, in lexington, kentucky voted to move two confederate statues. Check out the folks applauding the decision at the town hall meeting that came a couple hours from comments. Standing o for that. Lexington mayor jim gray released a statement after this saying by relocating these statues were not destroying, hiding or sanitizing history. We are honoring and learning our history through this relocation. Stephanie gosk is joining me from lexington. Have we been hearing any pushback against this from folks on the ground there . Not a lot of pushback here in lexington, kentucky. This is a pretty liberal city in a sea of red in the state of kentucky. You know this motion now goes on to a state commission where it will get its final decision and its not clear exactly what will happen there. The City Council Meeting last night was remarkable. It was at 6 00 and so well attended that they had two overflow rooms. They were actually turning people away at the doors. There was testimony from the public for hours. Although it was passionate and people had a lot to say, it remains civil. And its heartening to be in a place to hear people with opposing viewpoints remain civil to each other. All of this, this argument and debate over a Confederate Monument has really been going on for years in the u. S. But it was those events and scenes that we saw in charlottesville, virginia, that really have put fuel to the fire. Overnight shouts of joy and relief in lexington, kentucky. The vote reflects passage of the motion. The motion to remove confederate statues of general John Hunt Morgan and secretary john c. Breckinridge. The threehour City Council Meeting marked by emotional pleas. I cannot escape the color i am or my history but i can do something about the present and hopefully the future. Take down those confederate statues and show the world that americans really fight for freedom. Reporter few among the packed crowd supported keeping the divisive statues in place. Its not the slavery, but its our history. Reporter a view point echoed by President Trump. Sad to see the history and our culture being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. Adding, you cant change history, but you can learn from it. Since last weekends deadly violence when White Supremacists marched on charlottesville, virginia, Confederate Monuments have become flash points. Just because you call me one, doesnt mean im a racist. Reporter at least 718 of them across the country. At least eight of them are on capitol hill. Some democratic lawmakers are now calling for their removal. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, there is no room for celebrating the violent bigotry of the men of the confederacy in the hollowed halls of the United States capital or in places of honor across the country. And in tampa, the lightning rays and buccaneers say theyre dedicating funds to help move a Confederate Monument from in front of the citys courthouse. But the movement faces major opposition. And both sides are digging in. Mr. Mayor, the governor has not publicly supported your efforts. The president of the United States has spoken out against your efforts. Is this a kind of david and goliath moment for you . What i do is operate on core values. There are fundamental values here at stake. Freedom and justice and liberty and telling the real story. Reporter but a story that some see differently. We dont want to go tearing monuments and stuff down. Good enough for our parents. Good enough for us. There had been some fears that some of those selfdescribed White Nationalist groups from charlottesville will make their way to lexington. So far we havent seen them but a local newspaper is trying to organize themselves. Officials here in this city hoping that everything remains quiet and peaceful. Back to you, hallie. Steph, thanks very much for being on the ground there at that City Council Meeting which, by the way, did get a little contentious at times. You heard some of it in stephanies story there. I want you to listen to a bit more of the debate. We must not only condemn racism, hatred and violence, but also stand in solidarity with the victims. This demands that statues and monuments indicating and glorifying anything to the contrary on that Hallowed Ground be removed. I dont believe removing those statues is going to make us evolve into lovely people. And what next . Continued disrespect for the American Flag and more restrictions on where its displayed . Joining me now, somebody who is inside that meeting. Lexington City Council Member angela evans. Thank you very much for being here. We appreciate it. Let me start off with something that stephanie mentioned just a couple of moments ago. The idea that perhaps these White Nationalists groups are organizing sooner rather than later to come in and protest this vote that you were a part of. How concerned are you about that . What is the city prepared to do . Well, naturally, were concerned about that. We are very concerned about the safety of our citizens and these individuals are not citizens of lexington. So, we are encouraging our citizens to just ignore it. To go have those conversations with people that you normally wouldnt. And not engage these people. They are here to just wreak havoc on our city and none of us want that. We are peaceful people and elevating this conversation. We want to keep it that way. We are encouraging people to just not engage them at all. The military Heritage Commission has to approve the request based on my understanding of this. Do you suspect they will do so and finalize this . Well, im hopeful that they will. Theyve seen the footage that you all have shown. Theyve seen the people that have come. And this was a grassroots effort. So, these citizens are not going to stop. They are going to hear from them as much as we city Council Members heard from them and they will not stop and be inundated and know that the city of lexington and its citizens want these monuments removed from downtown and just relocated. And thats what were asking for. A relocation. No one is trying to erase history. No one is trying to destroy them. We just want them relocated to a more appropriate place in lexington. But, no, this is a grassroots effort and people are ready in full force. Absolutely. They will continue to hear from them. Before i let you go, you mention you are calling on the people of lexington to ignore it if any of these White Nationalists groups show up. What happens if counterprotesters from outside of lexington show up. Would you encourage them to stay away . Is that what youre calling on them to do . The counterprotesters, again, weve got a Wonderful Group in citizens of lexington and were encouraging them to stay away. So, we would also encourage those counterprotesters that want to come, come and be with our citizens there against these nazis and White Supremacists, as well. Come engage us. Come talk with us. Come and be in solidarity with us. Dont engage these people who might, might cause them harm or cause them harm or us harm, as well. Come talk to us. Were a hospitable city and we would love to have you here and engage you with us. Angela evans, thank you very much for joining us on this show. I appreciate it. Coming up, were talking more about the fallout from President Trumps comments on charlottesville. Lawmakers from both parties condemning what hes said. What you havent seen, what regular folks all across the country think, especially in the battleground states that helped put the president in the white house. Their experience is coveted. Their leadership is instinctive. Theyre experts in things you havent heard of researchers of technologies that one day, you will. Some call them the best of the best. Some call them veterans. We call them our team. Parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what . You could apply for a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan whenever you want. No enrollment window. No waiting to apply. That means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Medicare doesnt cover everything. 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We sent my colleague to North Carolina to ask folks how they are feeling about what happened. Rehema joins us onset. This is fascinating stuff. One of the things that people will be interested in knowing, from the president s News Conference on tuesday, people came down on different sides. We had four people together, three of the four agreed with the president that many sides were to blame for the violence that occurred in charlottesville but absolutely unanimous of condemning the type of violence that occurred. Take a listen. Theres so much wrong with what happened, i think its an embarrassment to the south to have the kind of activity that we saw occur. I was born and raised in the south as a southerner, you would never in my lifetime treat anybody the way i saw people treated from either direction. The president has since said that the confederate statues around the country should remain where they are. Michelle, your reaction . Because that is such a important part of our history, yes, i think the statue should remain. Simply because if we are taking down one, then whos to say the other ones wont follow. It could be a domino effect. I agree. Im not clear on stance of taking them down. The thing about history, we learn from it because history is circular and tends to repeat sometimes and i thnk we can use it as a teaching element. Its not a side of heritage, its a side of hate. Anybody thats ever been enslaved taken from your country, theres no way you can walk past a statue every day and just blow it off like something that happened. Because it wasnt just something that happened. Is it a fair criticism of the president to say that he has stirred up more of the Political Tension and political divisiveness in the country. I dont think hes responsible for it. Its been there long before today. There are elements that are going to promote black opposing white, white opposing black on both sides. I think thats the way he won the office, he divided the country and won the office that way. I say this from my heart and dont want to cry. Were americans and i think as americans my opinion were letting the standards drop. Whether its because of our leader or not because of our leader. Whether we agree with donald trump or barack obama or anybody, were americans and we need to be proud of that and stand strong. We need to stand together. They all came together in this group and said that they appreciated one another. They were glad they were willing to listen to each others opinions and said they would like to see more of that out of washington, people willing to cooperate with one another and listen to each other. Final thoughts . I feel were seeing something lost in the country right now and im not sure going to get that any time soon is what i think. I think thats a fair point that people really seem to be somewhat divided and disappointed with the direction the country is going in and not really sure what to do next and how to bring people back together. Thank you all for being here. Nick and jen and rehema, appreciate it. So thats the idea. What do you think . Hate to play devils advocate but. I kind of feel like its a game changer. I wouldnt go that far. Are you there . Hes probably on mute. Yeah. Gary wont like it. Why . Because hes gary. phone ringing what . Keep going yeah. laughs voice on phone its not millennial enough. There are a lot of ways to say no. Thank you so much. Thank you so were doing it. Yes start saying yes to your companys best ideas. Let us help with money and knowhow, so you can get business done. American express open. Instead of our big picture today we have something a little different. A big promo, starting on monday were getting back to my favorite place, on the road. Were getting beyond the beltway to maine on monday, texas on tuesday, nevada on wednesday. Red, blue and purple. Were talking washington gridlock, health care, National Security, infrastructure, everything that voters like you want to be discussing with big interviews coming up. That starts this monday, so i will see you from the road then. That does it for us this hour of msnbc live. Right now with more news with my colleague ali velshi. Im trying very hard to get myself invited. The bosses are paying no attention. Have a great rest of the your day. Good morning, my colleague Stephanie Ruhle is off today. Its friday, august 18th, so lets get started. A new attack i