And fury like the world has never seen. Went to here if anything maybe that statement wasnt tough enough. And landed here and he utters one more threat, he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast. Is it all bluster . Or a necessary warning to a rogue nation with nuclear weapons. Ill ask National Security advisor h. R. Mcmaster and the former chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen. Joining me for insight and analysis are joy reid, host of a. M. Joy on msnbc. Rich lowry, editor of the national rereview. Amy walter. And helene cooper, pentagon correspondent for the new york times. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. Announcer from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, celebrating its 70th year. This is meet the press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. In the opening months of his presidency, many of us have wondered how President Trump would respond to the type of crisis when the nation looks to its president. Could he lead . Could he inspire . Could he heal . He didnt have one test this week. Hes had two. Well get to the north korea situation later. But yesterday we received another reminder of just how volatile race and extremism can be in america today. Violent clashes broke out in charlottesville, virginia, between white nationalists, protesting the removal of a robert e. Lee statue, and some counterprotesters. Shortly after the Virginia Governor declared a state of emergency and the clashes broke up, a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters killing one person and injuring 19 others. The fbi has now opened a civil rights investigation into the incident. Adding to an already tragic day, a chopper carrying two Virginia StatePolice Officers who were hovering in the air monitoring the violence, crashed a few miles outside of the city. Both officers were killed. Heres how charlottesville city manager reacted to the violence. Hate came to our town today in a way that we had feared but we had never really let ourselves imagine it would. Our own tom costello is on the ground in charlottesville this morning. Tom, i take it, a lot more calm this morning than there has been the last 48 hours. Reporter yeah, chuck. Good morning to you. We are at the epicenter, that is the statue behind me of jem robert e. Lee. It is now emancipation park, no longer lee park. This is where those White Supremacists came yesterday. We now have an identity on the woman who was killed when the car came barreling through the counter protesters, 32yearold Heather Heyer was killed. The suspect has been arrested, 22yearold alex fields of ohio, Second Degree murder, one count of hit and run and several counts of malicious wounding. Hell be in court tomorrow. Three more arrested as well, disorderly conduct, mispeopler assaul mi misdemeanor and carrying a concealed weapon. A very heavy police presence. Ill talk to the mayor in a minute here. Some folks there are questioning the Police Response yesterday. Did they stand back too much. But there was there were times when youre watching the video that we saw a lot of armed people but those werent police. Who were they . Reporter well, whats very interesting is that some of these white nationalists and neonazis and kkk members apparently came here armed and prepared for battle. They were dressed in this almost paramilitary garb, if you will. They had body armor on. Some veterans of the military say that some of that stuff looks like it came right out of the military. Also they were wearing helmets. They had shields. They had clubs. Some of them were actually carrying weapons. Keep in mind, this is an open carry state. So they came in to this in a very intimidating fashion. They were met with counterprotesters who were determined not to allow those white nationalists to gain any momentum in this town. And as a result, we had the clash literally where im standing, what you cant see is at my feet the street is covered in dye and in paint. Theyve had bottles and broken bottles and cans all over the streets. Theyve been picking that up today. But it does appear that those individuals, those White Supremacists, left town yesterday and they seemed to have scattered. We dont know where they all went. We presume they all went back to their homes, wherever that might be. But the locals here say that they didnt recognize any of those White Supremacists as locals. This he believe that they all came from out of state, or many of them from out of state. Tom costello on the ground for us, tom, thanks very much. Shortly after the violence in charlottesville broke out, President Trump tweeted we all must be united and condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind ever violence in america. Lets come together as one. But it was what the president said later in the day, or more to the point, what he didnt say or even tweet, that is getting, by far, the most attention. The president s comments and the sharp reaction to them put a political coda on a day that many feared for weeks would end in the kind of violence we saw unfold yesterday. [ crowd chanting our streets. Just like flying everywhere, pedestrians. It is the most horrific thing ive ever seen in my life. A 32yearold woman killed and 19 injured when a car plowed into a crowd of counterdemonstrators. Police arrested james alex fields of ohio and charged him with one count of Second Degree murder. Hours later two state Police Officers assisting with Public Safety died when their helicopter crashed. The deaths were a painful end to a violent day. As white nationalists chanting neonazi slogans, many carrying weapons, holding nazi symbols and confederal flags. In the past several weeks President Trump has condemned his partys leader in the senate, Mitch Mcconnell, members of congress and his own attorney general. The president s response to White Supremacists in charlottesville was tepid. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. Asked to clarify, an Unnamed White House official told nbc news the president was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counterprotesters today. Mr. President , do you want the support of these white nationals who say they support you, mr. President . Have you denounced them strongly enough . As some of the white nationalists cited trumps victory as validation for their beliefs. We are determined to take our country back. Well going to fulfill the promises of donald trump. Thats what we believed in. Thats why we voted for donald trump. Mr. Trump chose not to condemn them. Many elected republicans seem to agree the president did not go far enough. Colorado Senator Cory Gardner who was in charge of Getting Senate republicans elected in 2018 tweeted, mr. President we must call evil by its name. These were White Supremacists and this was domestic terrorism. Floridas marco rubio, quote, very important for the nation to hear potus describe events in charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by White Supremacists. Utah senator orren hatch tweeting my brother didnt give his life fighting hitler for nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. And texas senator ted cruz, quote, the nazis, the kkk and White Supremacists are repulsive and evil. And all of us have a moral obligation to speak out. Joining me now is the mayor of charlottesville, michael signer. Mr. Mayor, i know it has been a tough 48 hours for you in your job. Let me just ask you this right now. 24 hours later, do you look back and think, are you prepared to say what you could have done better, what you could have done to preepare for this or is this just something no city can prepare for . Well, thanks, chuck. First thing i have to start by saying is our thoughts and prayers are with the two Virginia StatePolice Troopers who lost their lives yesterday and Heather Heyer the civilian killed in that, i think it is clear, a terrorist attack with a car used as a weapon. Right. Our hearts are grieving right now and three people died who didnt need to die. Charlottesville is one of the great cities in the world. Were a southern city, too. Were very progressive and tolerant but we made a decision a yearandahalf ago to at long last start telling deliberately to tell the truth about race in our city in the past. That put on the map a whole bunch of folks in this country who oppose everything about that. So what we saw this weekend was a deluge of outsiders trying to intimidate us away from that work. But to your question, we had the largest assembly of Law Enforcement personnel in ha virginia since 9 11. Any were charged with one mission which was setting conditions for people to peaceably express themselves and assemble. That they didnt do that starting right at the beginning so an Unlawful Assembly was properly called. And events unfolded from there. But were going to move past this. The healing has just begun here. Weve got important work to do on our democracy and were going to get going on that now. This is the city to do it. You on one hand thanked the president for condemning the violence, but you added this. You said, i do hope he looks in the mirror himself in the mirror and thinks very deeply about who he consorted with during the campaign. What are you referring to there . Old saying, when you dance with the devil, the devil changes you. I think they made a choice in that campaign, a very regrettable one, to really go to peoples prejudices, to go to the gutter. I mean these influences around the country, these antisemites, racists, arians, nazis, kkk, theyre always in the shadows but theyve been given a key and a reason to come into light. Thats exactly what happened last week. They said the chatter on line would be a shock to the world, altright 2. 0 in charlottesville. The time has come for this to stop. This should be a turning point. This movement jumped the shark and it happened yesterday. People are dying and i do think it is now on the president and on all of us to say, enough is enough. This movement has run its course. Mr. Mayor, i know its been tough. I know you got students coming in. Uva session is about to begin. Freshm freshmen. I will pass on to them, and i know you will, charlottesville is a great city and a very safe city. It is. It is. And a bunch of outsiders cant mess it up. If anything, were going to get better. Thank you. Lets jump to the panel. Rich lowry, uva alum. Helene cooper. Amy walter. And joy reid. Rich, ill read right from your publication today. David french wrote this if there ever was a time in recent american political history for an american president to make a clear, unequivocal statement against the altright it was today. Instead we got a vague condemnation of hate, bigotry and violence on both sides. This is unacceptable. Just ask any person President Trump considers an enemy. People in charlottesville are marching in the president s name. David duke namechecking the president of the United States which you would think would make it all the more important for the president to be specific denouncing these White Supremacists. This was a moment obviously where the president could have elevated himself. Instead, he came up small. Thats one of the reasons you see such a premium on statements from other republicans on moral clarity given the president s ambiguity. Joy, it was amazing to see that. It was almost as if the Republican Party was waiting to see what he would do. Then it was a rush to say, whoa. Hes on an island right now in his party. He is. Donald trump failed the sort of fundamental test of leadership. This was an easy test for any president of the United States to clear. This is the country that heroically swooped in during world war ii. The idea that a president of the United States cannot unambiguously denounce nazism is extraordinary. And donald trump has placed himself in a history. There is no way that i think the American People could have contemplated that their president could not unequivocally condemn david duke and nazis. And he couldnt, and he didnt. Yeah. You know, the president has been very clear, you cant defeat terrorism if you cant call it islamic terrorism. Well, you cant unify the country without calling out hatred and bigotry and there is no unity. There is no way that you can say there are both sides to this or equal sides to this bigotry. There was one group that was bigoted and hateful and racist. And then there was the anti group. Whats curious is to see where we go from here. Is the president going to choose, after hes getting, as you pointed out, denounced by all sides. Will he choose tomorrow to come out and make a stronger statement . He hasnt tweeted this morning, helene. Frankly, there hasnt been the clarification. There hasnt been any of that. I want to throw in what a george w. Bush speech writer wrote this if great words can heal and inspire, base words can corrupt. Trump has been delivering the poison of prejudice in small but increasing doses. In charlottesville the effect became fully evident. Going farther saying this was not just a choice but a strategy almost. Thats i think thats a really interesting point to make. I think President Trump has had probably his worst week this past week and thats because in the two instances that you alluded to earlier in the program, he has sort of fulfilled every fear that his critics and a lot of people had about him when he became president. And that is, one, because of his campaign and because of the side of america that he brought out in his campaign, that he would not be able to detach himself from these White Supremacists who got him elected and who he has put in his government and in the white house. Thats one. Thats always been a big fear. And the other great fear that people had before he became president was that he would be too loose and this is not somebody that you necessary might want in charge of a button that can launch a nuclear weapon. This is not somebody you want receiving the 3 00 a. M. Phone call and with the way he has handled north korea this past week, and then shockingly, shockingly, what he did yesterday, and what he failed to do yesterday, just feeds, feeds that. People think that this is what i do think he should have obviously specifically denounced the white nationalists. But there are two sides to this now. This country now has a violent fringe on the right and on the left. White nationalists and socalled antifascists who like violence, who thrill to violence, like the attention that comes with it, and this is going to get worst before it gets better. I can say, i think hell lee made a very important point. I think sort of both sides doesnt serve anyone well. This is an unambiguous evil thats plaguing this country. One of the reasons donald trump cant respond to what was obviously a proper response from the american president is the people in his government. Whos writing the talking points that he was looking down and reading from. He has people like Stephen Miller, claimed as a mentee by richard spencer, an open avowed white nationalists. Steve bannon melding into the Government Employee but who ran breitbart. Com which i reread today the post thats still on their website where they selfdescribe as the home of the altright. What is the altright . It is a dressedup term for white nationalism. They them call selves white identi. Thats who is in his government. One member was paid by a taxpayer, the former blogger michael an ton in tton in the g. He is surrounded by these people. It isnt both sides. Theyre in the white house with him. Look, you have certain antifascists who dress in black and wear masks. Were they beating on clergy on yesterday . There is violence on both sides. There was certainly not. Were they attacking clergy . I speak with clergy who were being beaten with brass knuckles by neonazis. Antifascists also beat people up, break things and burn things. They both should be condemned. I want the altright to be as limited as possible. I want it to go away and die. But you arent doing folks on my side any favors by defining it so widely that it includes Stephen Miller and mike anton. Thats what they want. Youre helping them. You read the blog posts that theyve posted . Have you read what theyve done . I dont think mike anton is a white nationalist. Thats crazy. Im going to pause it here. Were going to take a break and were going to have the keep having this conversation. I promise. Changing it a little bit. But you guys will have a chance to continue when we come back. As i said, well continue our coverage on the violence in charlottesville and possible mainstreaming of these white nationalists in our political system. Well be right back. 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. I accept i dont bike i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke as far as i used to. Due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. But no matter where i ride, i go for my best. So if theres Something Better than warfarin, ill go for that too. Eliquis. Eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis had both. Dont stop taking eliquis unle