>> g., h., y and z. >> exactly. >> great to see you, jamie. i really, really appreciate it. >> thank you. and thanks for joining us at this hour. "inside politics" with john king starts right now. thank you, kate. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thanks for sharing your with us. president trump back in washington tore the day. now trying to clean up a profound mess. a mess of his own making. the initial reason for interrupting his vacation, taking issue with china's trade policies. still on tap. a few hours from now. at this hour, the president is in a newly scheduled meeting withies attorney general and his new fbi director. they are investigating the death this weekend in charlottesville, virginia, as a possible hate crime. or domestic terrorism. >> you can be sure we will surge and advance the investigation

towards the most serious charges that can be brought, because this is an unequivocally, unacceptable and evil attack. >> those words from the attorney general. yet for three days now the president of the united states declined to explicitly condemn the white supremacists and neo-nazis who sparked the weekend bloodshed. a torrent of criticism, much from republicans saying the president is failing a giant leadership and character test. >> this president has done an incredible job of naming ta terrorism around the globe as evil. erratic islamic terrorism, whether in europe on the middle east said and called it out time and time again and this president needs to do exactly that today. call this white supremacism, white nationalism evil and let the country and world hear it. >> with us to share reporting and insights, margaret talev,

manu raju, matt and jackie kucinich. the ohio man charged with plowing his war into a crowd saturday in charlottesville arraigned on murder and other charges this morning and ordered held without bail. this morning's court hearing for james alex fields jr. on state charges. he, of course, is central to the federal investigation now the president is hearing about at the white house as we speak. we are told we'll hear from the president again from charlottesville later today. his team including the vice president saying it is a media creation that the president fell mimpab miserably short blaming the violence on many sides. wrong. leading the republicans are part of a giant chorus saying the president of the united states failed a big leadership test by failing to name names and single out the hate 3407kers. mongers. the president seems tone defr and soft in the wake of a domestic terrorist attack on his watch. this morning, well, the

president dug the hole deeper. not one tweet over the weekend or this morning on the scourge of white supremacy but a rush to attack an african-american ceo who resigned from a panel being disappointed at the president's response. quit because america's leaders must honor our fundamental views clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy. the president's response -- to attack. now that ken frazier of merck pharma resigned from the council, the president said on twitter, he will have more time to work on rip-off drug prices. asked yesterday on "inside politics" why? why can't the president name names? why wouldn't the president name names? why this? the country and the world are waiting to hear from you. you get a chance to reset a chance to say maybe i didn't get it right the first time and you attack an african-american ceo?

why not retweet, ken i agree. listen to what i say later today. don't quit. why? >> we'll hear from him possibly soon and he'll need to articulate the points. he's taken effectively a tragedy not at its outset about him. made it about him and tempted his own party and executives basically dared them, stick with me, or i'll come after you. and it has created a moment of dissidence at a time traditionally called for presidential healing, and, you know, at bloomberg we're looking, watching other advisory counsels to see if any follow suit. it's taken a major news event out of one realm and put it squarely at the white house. and it's caused a real mess. >> and it's just -- i've wound up a bit about this. why we elect presidents. if you're out there voted for

trump or didn't vote for trump, this is why we elect presidents. to step up at moments like this. what they're paid for and what a lot of americans pray for. pray for their president to step forward in a moment like this and try to unify the country. why? >> remarkable to see all administration officials try to put words in the president's mouth, saying things that he didn't say. ben carson, his hud secretary saying on facebook the president "overly disavowed any relationship with white supremacists." the president did not do that in this unnamed white house official, who put out a statement yesterday saying the president, of course, disavows these groups. well, the president -- >> on the -- >> jeff sessions on the show this morning. >> the president has not done that himself and this is a time, a cause for presidential leadership. he could have put on 140 character tweet just as quickly as he did to criticize the ceo this morning. meant to say, of course, i criticized, calling out white

supremacist, kkk, neo-nazis. shows an ex-policery not do that. >> this is not the first time, a pattern from this president. look how long it took him to disavow david duke of all people. goodness sake. is it because this is a group of people that do not criticize the president? so he doesn't feel like he needs to hit back. that's definitely something worth looking into. but this is a gimme. this is an easy thing to say, why supremacists are bad. neo-nazism is bad. disavow them. >> i don't wand to understate what happened. a woman is dead. two police officers killed responding to this and we should be talking about. that. talking about these organizations. right. the president made it about him. and back to your point about ben carson, the attorney general this morning. i make the case these people who think they're trying to help the president are making it worse for him. because they are speaking out clearly, including the vice

president of the united states. he is traveling in colombia. listen to the vice president. a media creation, the device that the president of the united states, the vice president says, called it out clearly. listen. >> president trump clearly and unambiguously condemned the bigotry violence and hatred which took place on the streets of charlottesville. we have no tolerance for hate and violence. from white sprim siftem upremac neo-nazis orred kkk. these dangerous fringe groups have no place in the united states and we condemn them in the strongest terms. >> well put by the vice president there. his statement not so clear and you heard the vice president say the president did that. the president did what he just did. called them out by name. here's the president on saturday. he did no such thing.

>> we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides, on many sides. it's been going on for a long time in our country. not donald trump, not barack obama. this has been going on for a long, long time. it has no place in america. >> he's certainly right, matt. racism, bigotry, hatred going on a long time. he's the president of the united states. his test, respond to the specifics what happened on his watch. >> and moments like that for a president. you think of george w. bush on after 9/11. barack obama after the shootings in charleston. moments for a president to speak to the country, and to unite the country and part of that, you know, trump is calling for unity without recognizing there's a segment of the pop tlaulation t

believes in him with racist ideology and he's not rejecting that. that's a big deal. and trump during the campaign showed a master at branding people, and sort of diminishing them quickly with that branding. he's not used that skill that he has to direct it at this neo-nazi group that believes in him, and that's telling. that he's not doing that. so i think he has moments today where he can do some of that and speak out in a way that he so far has not. >> the question is telling of what? is it just he doesn't want to criticize people he knows supports him? those saying this proves to them he sympathizes with them, we all pray is not the case. but when you have a lack of clarity, you allow people togro the president hasn't singled us out. that's a good thing, see what the justice does. an investigation opened into the incidents. whether they prosecute, how hard

do they go after these groups? that's something we're center watching and i think the current will watch to your point about the president, very clear. if he doesn't like you if he wants to criticize you, he does it quite well. this is eric garrison conservative activist not always a trump fan. so trump critics say he doesn't like, supporters say he doesn't like us to begin with. in the "new york times," the same president who routinely mocked and attacked barack obama and hillary clinton for failing to call islamic radicalism by its name. in charlottesville evil has a name. it is white supremacy. this only feeds eving. evil. the president who warned barack obama to name radical islam should take his own advice and be forceful. that from a conservative. not always a trump fan, but from a conservative, i urge the vice president who wants to blame this on the media to read that and to read the twitter feeds of about 650 republican lawmakers

or more getting in the president's face. >> and also some of his allies. like the "new york post" editorial page. one. president's favorite newspapers, also taking him to task. you make a good point. the president made points about political correctness on the campaign trail. why not showing any nuance here a president who rarely shows nuance going after people. the only time he shows nuance or skirts criticism seems to be according to republicans and democrats that pointed thissous, about vladimir putin. he doesn't want to criticize vladimir putin, and why not calling out white sprim siuprem? makes no sense to folks today. he can clean it up, say in strong, direct terms but maybe defensive over all the criticism so far he's gotten. >> listen to the chants. we should be shaming the protestors. playing for you all -- probably not too much.

giving them the attention they want. screams against jewish people, against african-americans, the rants and friday night saturday and former secretary of state john kerry, potus tougher than a domestic terrorist who took an american life. criticism from the president, making a lot of people, keep asking the same question -- why? what is it about him, his team? they can't figure out it's a moral obligation of anybody, but he's the president of the united states. >> last week, the week before, we were all talking about john kelly and the new chief of staff. how his mandate was going to be to return order and structure and priority to the white house as best he could. we don't have a lot of v visibility into the internal discussions how the president would respond to this. we know he's been up at b bedminster and back in washington today.

helping the president understand implications are doing this one way, another way, inclusion of comments, absence of other comments. it seems to be underscoring the idea that the president ultimately does always go with his own gut and make his own decisions. >> i think like jackie was saying. a base instinct with trump that seems to be, if you are nice to me, i'm nice to you. you're mean to me, i'm mean to you. this is a group that supported him during the campaign and so he's been reluxant to disavoi himself from it. that elemental instinct of his is not even overriding the fact that they are nazis and -- >> and does not like to admit, the president, when he's wrong. getting all of this criticism from the media, from his own party. from democrats. for him to come out and say something would be an acknowledgement of making a mistake, perhaps one reason why he has not tried to clean this up after his comments. >> we'll see if we hear from him today meeting with the attorney general of the united states now and with his new fbi director

promising an aggressive investigation into possible domestic tear original, possible hate crimes. way out ahead of the president. see if he says something and whether he waits until this afternoon and speaks sooner. when we come back, more of this conversation, this incident in charlottes vainville and eve the republican party, the president is on an island. jack be nimble, jack be quick, jack knocked over a candlestick onto the shag carpeting... ...and his pants ignited into flames, causing him to stop, drop and roll. luckily jack recently had geico help him with renters insurance. because all his belongings went up in flames. jack got full replacement and now has new pants he ordered from banana republic. visit geico.com and see how affordable renters insurance can be. >> announcer: no one loves a road trip like your furry sidekick! so when your "side glass" gets damaged... [dog barks] trust safelite autoglass to fix it fast,

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and i would urge the president to dissuade them of the fact that he's sympathetic to their cause, because their cause is hate. it is un-american. they are domestic terrorists, and we need more from our president on this issue. >> i don't think there's anybody, few in america, would disagree. we need more from our president on this issue. what can he do right now? we're expecting the president to come out momentarily and make a statement. a change in the schedule. he wasn't going to speak until this afternoon. underscoring the urgency they view this at the white house. three days later, how does he fix it? >> other steps, of course. reaching out to the families of the victims. having private conversations with them. words to the public. an appearance in charlottesville at the appropriate time, a memorial, more initiatives and the discussion of those initiatives in terms of dealing with this problem both from law enforcement and societal perspective. a number of things he can do. but the timing matters.

and the approach matters. >> and also he can be completely unequivocal. he was equivocal saturday saying clearly who is responsible for this. the united states is not condoning this behavior. strongly condemns these groups in the sharpest possible terms. he could certainly do that, better late than never. clearly, concern within the white house that what he did on saturday is overshadowing everything right now and the president needs to do something to clean this up, because they do not -- >> sincerity matters, too. how into it is he and how much is just a reaction from the blowback he's gotten, and how much does he really feel these things? his first instinct was not to condemn these groups on saturday. so how sincere is he going to be? >> a critical point. you made the observation, this should have been politically a no-brainer for the president

that lost the popular vote, approval rating down, a president done nothing to reach out to critics and the people who didn't vote for him. it's a two-way street not all on him. had an opportunity. had he come out saturday and condemned this by name we would be having a very different conversation about a potential reset for the president of united states who struggled from day one. my question now, comes into this room and says all the right things, says what he should have said on saturday, will it be viewed credibly by hit skeptics and critics? only reforced27 -- 72 hours as miserable failure. >> if he comes out says the right things this isn't going away. the groups made it clear this isn't over. they're going to protest other places and there needs to be follow-up and a consistent message from this president. the consistent message that we've heard up until this point hasn't been the right one. >> and reading from the conservative national review. editorial on sunday.

they have taken his thus far mealymouthed both sides do it, refuse toll reject them specifically, strongly and by name as tacit indullens. the closest thing to a public embrace real politics allows. the nazis are ridiculous. national view making a case, hate groups because the president did not say, i denounce neo-nazis. if you think you represent me, you do not. you think i speak for you, i do not. he didn't specifically call it out those groups taking it as a wink nod from the president of the united states. >> and i think we can expect strong words from the president according to our colleague jeff zeleny, reporting this right now. that a white house official said that the president is expected to directly address the charlottesville attack, declare racism is evil, call out the kkk and neo-nazis, white supremacists other hate groups saying they're repugnant to everything we hold dear as

americans. the guidance on this note, it's subject to change listening to what president has to say. we'll hear what he says have to hear, see if he backfrac backtr any way what's being put out and if the president says something different. >> waiting for the president. the shot from inside the white house. the president was supposed to speak publicly later in the day. they've added this event to address charlottesville. meeting with his attorney general and the fbi director. they, by saturday night, said they would have a federal investigation. perhaps potential domestic terrorism. the attorney general said clearly today. perhaps hate crimes as well. one woman killed when a man from ohio allegedly plowed his car into a crowd. two state troopers, helicopter crash there. my question again is about the credibility of the president. critics say he was pushed into this, pulled into it by his attorney general and vice president, and others. it is a -- we're human beings. human beings make mistakes. presidents make mistakes.

how does he do this? >> again, what his body language is like during this. does he show any -- rarely does this. show remorse for his initial reaction? it took longer than it should have to come to this conclusion? i doubt he'll say something like that. if he does, it goes a long way towards his own growth as a person and as a president to admit that he should have acted differently in the past few days. >> african-american ceo walked away from a council. failed morality test. i need a president that stnds up and says this is wrong. will the president pick up the phone to ken frazier. please, come back. i was wrong? >> i'd be surprised. >> yes. >> i just -- >> why? why? it's -- you're right. right. there's nothing in this president's past to suggest he will admit a mistake, reach out, through the disdain. never. at some point if he wants to lead the country, does he have to do that? >> you think that would be help follow to healing the damage

he's done here, but i don't think he can really overstate how much of a problem this has become for this white house. i mean, if -- the president coming out two days later to make this statement after all of this growing, growing backlash just sewo shows the significant miscalculation, by add libing, adding on of many sites, but why not come out directly afterward on twitter, elsewhere, just being clear that calls out these groups right way. this story would have been maybe a few hours. a instead of a two-day story, people will remember this a long time. >> and add to it yesterday putting out a statement by an anonymous white house official. hiding behind a curting saying, of course the president mend an the kkk, the neo-nazis. >> as close as they could get to the statement that the rest of the country was demanding, but i

think -- you know, going beyond the obvious racial issues here, we're still talking about campaign instincts six months into governing. and this can be explained during the course of a campaign, sort of. but we are talking about this like, is it too late to respond? good for politics? but this is a national tragedy. a national event and in a sense it doesn't matter if it's too late or not. he still has to do it, because that is what it means to the president. the core, gets right down to it, joint chiefs of staff, defense secretary, everybody else can backstop this stuff. when there's a national moment of crisis or tragedy, there is no one with the same platform as it's president to heal, to unite, to comfort, to calm, put aside personal issues to bring everyone together. that is the test that -- actually not even a test.

he has to do it. >> it's his job. i said before. i'm sure people didn't vote for barack obama, praying for him. you had the shootings in south carolina. he came out. other tragedies, multiple shootings during the obama administration is what presidents are supposed to do. the question, can he step up now? >> obama had to be careful in way he talked about racism in a different way. so it didn't seem his own background was sort of affecting his bias. now president trump is dealing with kind of the same range of con plex complicity but a different side of the spectrum. it's important for him to say i speak for everyone. >> a good point earlier. probably come out, read a prepared statement. doubt he'll deviate much given what happened saturday. strongly worded, probably, at jeff zeleny is reporting suggesting that he's going to call racism evil, call out the names by name. but off-script and is asked

about this as a big press conference he planned to have later today, not happening anymore, but probably asked that, any sort of open press event. does he equivocate then? and does he come out sort of bashing everybody in the media, and twitter afterwards? and back off in the statement then? it is -- this statement is very important, but it's continued actions afterwards that are equally at important. >> again, go back to, i know the vice president has a job to do and part of the job is be loyal to the president, try to help the president, but the vice president repeatedly saying this is just the media. i read a few. read another. from senator ted cruz. not known as a liberal or huge fan of mainstream media. tragic to see racism, more bloodshed. nazi, kkk and white sprim siemus are repulsive and evil. a republican senator trying to send a message to his president,

and i don't eastern think party has anything to do with it. >> but also it does alienate him even more from his party. from people who are very quick to stand up and say, cory gardner saying, say something. you need to disavow tease people. this is something you have to do. marco rubio, a similar comment to ted cruz. this -- this does have, not to make this political, but it has political ramifications in terms of people wanting to stand behind this president and to support him publicly. you can't -- you can't really -- the damage that is done by what he's doing here both internally and externally. >> you mentioned marco rubio. use this waiting for the president. marco rubio going to scripture today to make clear displeasure with the president of the united states. one who winks at a fault causes trouble. one who frankly reproves promotes peace. from proverbs 10:10. marco rubio.

fascinating, the last 48 hours watching the number of republicans in part trying to distance themselves from the president. they worry what he's doing to their party. but first instinct, i think, just do the right thing. stand up and speak out and try to set an example for the president of the united states and what -- where are we that everybody else has to set an example for the president? supposed to work the other way. isn't it? >> and that sort of split, already started, when you saw that through health care. this idea the recess and then pivot to tax reform. work together on other things and that seems like this is only opening up the distance between trump and his republicans in congress. the other point from earlier today in his criticism of the merck ceo is -- wall street and sort of corporate america has been one bright spot for president trump, and to the extent that he now is a toxic brand of himself, where

corporate america does not want to be associated with him. that's a whole other problem in an area he could become an island from the rest of mainstream america. >> he's the ceo. we can put fault at the president's team, why the chief of staff can't run an orderly ship and why the white house chief of staff didn't get the president to think twice what he said saturday. as the president said many times he is the ceo. this is his operation about which begs the question, why? and, again, again, why when you know you're under all of this criticism is your reflex to lash out at an african-american american ceo resides on a white house council because he thinks it's a matter the principle to do so? >> reminds me of instances in the campaign tripped over racial issues as well. whether when asked about david duke and wouldn't -- condemn him right away. >> the judge is a mexican. >> yes. the mexican-american judge, could not rule fairly, because

he was mexican. in those situations, too, you saw republicans go after trump in pretty strong terms. paul ryan calling that, the mexican-american judge comment, textbook definition of racism, and this is a similar situation. you get into the issue of race, not a partisan issue. most republicans agree with that. the president seems to not understand that his words on this particular topic are particularly damaging, depends on what he says. >> waiting for the president, seen yeoh white house correspondent jeff zeleny reporting on this. we expect tough words from the president. jeff, start with this question. what specifically do you hear is coming and add this as a follow -- why in the world did it take so long? >> reporter: well, john, what we hear specifically is coming, a direct and forceful and full-throated condemnation of the acts of violence in charlottesville on saturday.

i am told by white house, a white house official it will directly say what happened in charlottesville was evil. i am told he will directly talk -- about the neo-nazi group, the white supremacists, the ku klux klan, mention those groups by name and also talking about the victim. the victim who was hit in the -- the -- the crash on saturday as well as the two state troopers who also died on saturday. he will talk about the loss of life. also i'm told he will talk about the need to bring the country together. to unify the country. as for your question of, why this has taken so long -- it's a good one. this is still a young white house. still a white house that is getting its bearings in many ways. and i think this is one of the first examples, certainly the biggest example, of how this white house is reacting to external events. something that they did not see

coming. and there's no question. if you talk to people inside the white house, they were caught a bit flat-footed by this. the president is reluctant to sort of weigh in against some groups that have been supportive of him, but now they view this as "the only option." they've seen this really remarkable criticism across the board coming. so i am told we are going to hear a speech, remarks, a brief set of remarks this afternoon that directly confronts all of this. the question is, once he is in a more spontaneous setting, will any of that change? but this is something that many of his supporters would have liked to have heard him give on saturday. but i think on monday's, it's certainly, you know, a better than not doing it at all, of course. again, these are -- remarks prepared for him, with him. we'll see if he goes through and

delivers all of these, but i am told it is a very forceful condemnation. >> senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. stay with us. awaiting the president to deliver this statement. listen to the way jeff describes how this came about and see an aide putting something on the podium. maybe the president is coming any second. the question, is the president doing this? can't read minds. the president doing it because he realizes he made a mistake, failed the test and wants to? something he must say? he wraunts ants to say? or walking in to give this statement because he realized politically he has to? >> maybe he's been convinced he has to by his staff. see if this is -- hey, we'll see if john kelly, the new chief of staff, had any, had any influence here in pushing the president to make this statement. why not make it sunday in bedminster? they didn't tell the press what the president was doing all day long. put out an anonymous statement and wouldn't explain why it could not be on the record who it was from.

that just -- made this story worse for them. >> i think that's right. we have a two-minute warning the president will speak and expect him in a nint and a half. i get your point and a lot of questions in the days ahead how did this work with the staff? who did he talk to? pushed out by the new chief of staff. no mistake he's the president of united states. this is his job. he leads the entire kurngts in fact country. the entire world is watching. people chanting anti-american slogans, anti-jewish slogans, bigotry and hatred on display. it should be a moral reflex. yes, an unorthodox president. has fights with his party. disagree over taxes and health care. a separate issue. this is a human being. whether a democrat, independent, republican, 20 years or 20 minutes. we saw in charlottesville, usersly repug nannant and why d it take so long for the

president to say so? >> that he didn't speak out immediately is telling. instead has to be convinced over the course of several days, both from people inside the white house and members of his party who are willing to criticize him is -- it tells something about him. >> and should be noted that his daughter, jewish. her husband, his grandchildren, came out before the president, as did his wife melania. melania, the first of the white house, the trumps certainly, to come out against this. not only is he on an island in this party. seems his own family even got out of ahead of him on this. >> and go back to the point that this is a president who just cannot, does not admit making mistakes. the one time that he did, he made generally, that he made mistakes. said it during, i believe in the campaign. if my memory serves correctly. end of the campaign what is the, can't remember what the stakes were. this has to be a reason why. did not want to admit he made a huge mistake on saturday.

didn't want to feel he needed to clean it up. >> he is hardly unique among american presidents to have a big ego. i don't say it critically. to get involved in this arena you need a healthy ego. a lot of self-confidence. also he's not alone american american presidents to make mistakes. every one does, just like every human being. the question, how do you get up and recover? knocked down, how do you recover? back to the same question. how can this president given the history and given the ticking clock since what happened in charlottesville happened? what is the most important test when, in a minute or so, we see the president of the united states standing right there. trying to essentially reset his failure in charlottesville? >> we had talked about all the southern conservative male republican whose have used much more direct language and then called on the president to do so themselves, and you know, one political question i have, after the, tragedy of this subsides is

what happens when everyone comes back from the august recess? are things differ? >> here we go. about to find out what the president of the united states says differently. here he is at the white house. thank you. i'm in washington today to meet with my economic team about trade policy and major tax cuts and reform. we are renegotiating trade deals and making them good for the american worker. and it's about time. our economy is now strong. the stock market continues to hit record highs. unemployment is at a 16-year low, and businesses are more optimistic than ever before. companies are moving back to the united states and bringing many thousands of jobs with them. we have already created over 1 million jobs since i took office.

we will be discussing economic issues in greater detail later this afternoon, but based on the events that took place over the weekend in charlottesville, virginia, i would like to provide the nation with an update on the ongoing federal response to the horrific attack and violence that was witnessed by everyone. i just met with fbi director christopher ray, and attorney general jeff sessions, the department of justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack that killed one innocent american, and wounded 20 others. to anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. justice will be delivered. as i said on saturday, we

condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. it has no place in america. and as i have said many times before, no matter the color of our skin, we all live under the same laws. we all salute the same great flag, and we are all made by the same almighty god. we must love each other, show affection for each other and unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence. we must rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty, that bring us together as americans. racism is evil. and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the kkk,

neo-nazis, white sprupremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. we are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal. we are equal in the eyes of our creator. we are equal under the law. and we are equal under our constitution. those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of america. two days ago a young american woman heather heyer was tragically killed. her death fills us with grief and we send her family our thoughts, our prayers and our love. we also mourn the two virginia state troopers who died in service to their community, their commonwealth, and their country. troopers jay cullen and berke banks exemplify the very best of

america and our hearts go out to their families, their friends and every member of american law enforcement. these three fallen americans embody the goodness and decency of our nation. in times such as these, america has always shown its true character. responding to hate with love, division with unity and violence with an unwavering resolve for justice. as a candidate i promised to restore law and order to our country and our federal law enforcement agencies are following through on that pledge. we will spare no resource in fighting so that every american child can grow up free from violence and fear. we will defend and protect the sacred rights of all americans, and we will work together so that every citizen in this blessed land is free to follow

their dreams, in their hearts, and to express the love and joy in their souls. thank you. god bless you, and god bless america. thank you very much. >> mr. president -- do you hear -- the president of the united states leaving the room after delivering a statement. he began oddly with talk of being in washington meeting with his economic team. talking trade and tax policies and creating more jobs. the president claims credit for the economy, economic environment and turned to the events in charlottesville. saying the just it department and fbi leading the vin investigation, talked about the kkk, neo-nazis, white supremacists, repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. no disagreement there. one of the questions, why monday? not saturday? talking before the president came in the room about his challenge. trying to convince people he means it. how did he do? >> it was important to say some

of those key lines that he said. i'll note one thing he didn't do was a lot of outreach to people not white or who might feel they were victimized and the pro p t protesters were carrying, he said a minimum but a lot of questions as he left the room you heard being shouted out. >> and of course, saying on many sides, which what got him in trouble saturday. did not place the blame on many sides. clearly said, the kkk, white supremacists, everything we hold dear as americans. the question, we talked about earlier, what does he do now, when off script, asked directly about this? get defensive? spread out the blame? that's going to be the big question going forward. this is not the end of this test. probably the beginning. >> and did seem defensive in starting with the economy. by the way, the economy's great, and then let me address this

thing i have to address. you know? because i didn't address it two days ago. you know? and he was very clearly reading a statement that had been well crafted by his advisers, but it did strike me, same as margaret. minimum what he needed to do. inserting some phrases and things you expected him to do earlier without the outreach to some groups that probably feel victimized at this point. >> add on to what was said. what happens the next time? what happens how he reacts the next time will be worth watching. because this message needs to be consistent to kind of undo the damage that has already been done. >> and our white house correspondent sara murray stand big at the white house. sara, obviously, the president realized he had to do this. there will be a debate whether it was genuine? see that in the follow-through. take us in the conversation at the trump white house.

obviously they understand what's happening and despite them saying it's the liberal media, that this torrent of criticism was coming from every corner of the political spectrum including loudly from fellow republicans? >> reporter: right, john. wall-to-wall media coverage of this horrific tragedy. a woman lost her life and the president's muted response. part of the reason it got so much attention is republicans were willing and eager to call out the president saying he did not go far enough. seen backlash from democrats and also from republicans. also seen it from wall street and so in many ways he could not escape the clamor. and when people look at the comments coming from the president today they are a little skeptical a little dubious. wondering why it took days to say something like this. remember, the day after the president made his sort of very muted remarks about this, equivocating how both sides were to blame and both sides kind of need to ratchet down the temperature and the violence. an unnamed white house official put out a statement saying, of

course the president denounces the kkk. of course the president denounces neo-nazi groups. even that white house official wouldn't put their name on the state. it's clear this is a problem that's going to continue to dog this white house, john. you watched alongside me on the campaign. every time an issue like this came out it always took the president a couple tries, at that point candidate trump, a couple tries to hit the right note. we saw it when jake tapper was pressing him to denounce david duke and saw it with attacks on a mexican judge and even in the wake of his election when we were seeing one-off attacks on minorities and people chanting racial epithets in trump's name. took him a while, took him pressed in an interview before he denounced those supporters. this is not something the president feels comfortable doing and evident again today. >> sara, covered him a long time throughout the campaign now at the white house. i don't know there's an answer to this. what is it about this president that he knew what the country

was waiting for? knew what politically he had to do. why does he need the windup? why does he need to walk in and brag about the economy before he gets gets to the point? why can't he just walk in the room, just back in washington, just met with my fbi director, and tell you about charlottesville and make denounciation of these groups, he should have done saturday. why? >> reporter: an indication this is not what the president wants to be talking about. he is not comfortable talking about these racial issues. if they were he would have had a full-throated statement on the day it was all going on. we didn't get that. obviously. he feels much more solid talking about the economy, the stock market and frankly, he and his advisers feel that's one bright shining star in this administration. the fact the kmeconomy is hummi along, the stock market booming. he'll bring it up every chance pe gets. congress has a robust agenda getting back to washington. if the president hadn't made these statements today this would have followed members of

congress as they got back to town and would have been yet another thing that inhibits what the president wants to get done. now i think republicans will point to what the president said and say we need to move beyond it. remember, also what they did during the president's campaign. not an indication president trump's mind-set changed or his view how to handle these things changed, but he waits a couple days. makes a statement he needs to make and members of his own party tend to back off and give him breathing room to go back to kwhafr his agenda item was. my guess, that's what happens in this area, john. >> at the white house, sara murray. couldn't agree more. republicans grateful for the statement today although i think the last 72 hours furthered, if that's the right word, the chasm between the president and his own party. seen it on trust issues this is a moral issue and their lack of faith he'll do the right thing it's not going away even as they can seize on the statement today and say the president finally got to where he had to be. back to the president coming out, you noted, he talked first

about a million new jobs created during his add min station,mini. and investigating and prosecute, bring to justice those responsible and did what many hoped the president would do saturday. name names. >> racism is evil. and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs. including the kkk, neo-nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. >> reading from a teleprompter there. a lot of people talked on saturday when looked up from his prepared remarks, talked about many, many, not donald trump, not barack obama. but he did it there. hey, he did it there. the question is, we discussed before the president came out, what comes next? you know his critics will say, too little, too late. what is the test now?

>> as jackie mentioned a minute ago. what happens during the next time there is some sort of racial incident or some sort of animosity? the same group that helped plan this event in charlottesville is planning an event in boston and the boston common this coming saturday. i mean, this incident and these, this kind of friction is not going away. >> right. >> so is president trump going away or going to keep speaking out about this and denounce these groups as they hold more events? >> excellent point. the hatemongers do what they do, pay to get attention. we saw in charlottesville. many carrying trump signs, there because of him, there to speak for him or he spoke for them. the president did some of that today but this is not certainly -- one statement will not make this go away. >> i'm interested to see republicans who criticized him now react to this statement. i think that i would guess they would be happy he said this. think they'll, when asked say at least he made the statement. better late than never and happy

about it, but as was said, racial tension in this country is fought going away. it's gotten a lot worse. these demonstrations will continue to happen. how does the president react then? take this as a learning, a lesson to be learned? and does he speak out forcefully and does the party, will they be satisfied by that going forward? but i do think at the moment he gives his party a little breathing room on what has become a dominating story the last couple days. >> this is on him. on him. this is on him. repeat myself. but when you hear this, oh, this is still a young administration. you know, understanding this is a presidential moment. not only the president but the entire white house has to jump in. it's seven months. and, again, you know, whether it's a mass shooting or a protest likes this that shouldn't take a meeting to figure out it's a challenge for the president of the united states to step up. shue it? >> denouncing nazis! really? that takes a lot of thought?

i don't mean to be flippant about it. >> no. >> you don't have to be a young administration to not know to denounce nazis. >> why i don't -- i mean, mentioned john kelly earlier. supposed to come in and right the ship and this administration. >> you can't change the president. can't change the president. >> exactly the point i would make. he saw this as a huge problem saturday and everyone else in the administration. why they made the comments going further than the president, the last couple of days. the president seems to have been reluctant to come out here. perhaps why it took so long to ultimately say, i have to do this. >> there are two other measures i would watch. one is the reaction of the counterprotest community for lack of a better word. not just in charlottesville but across the u.s. in the next few days. there there be vigil, whatever? will those groups speak about against president trump or safred with the comments together? the hole is, fundamentally affecting bow the president's approach and republicans approach what we're asking. will they come back to support

him and try to stick together as a party heading into the midterms or separate? whether this changes his overall numbers and his numbers inside the republican party, crucial metric to watch. may dictate what happens in the days to come. >> to the point we made coming up. waiting three days, get except igging to think we don't buy this. three days of crushing pressure to condemn nazi inch and racism. a valid point. whatever your politics. you mentioned, criticizing nazis, white supremacists, people who drive their cars into crowds should not be hard. somehow he made it hard. >> and the question, how long will this episode be lasting? will people remember this? will this haunt his administration going forward or be able to pivot? so many controversies over the past seven months. this could be the biggest. do you does they deal with it going forward. >> told by the white house team,

as telling as it gets. the president insists on putting the economic remarks at the top of his statement before he got to his denunciation of the kkk and other hate groups. that was the president's call. thanks for joining us on "inside politics." dealing with breaking news. wolf blitzer continues our coverage after a quick break.

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whether you're on medicare now or turning 65 soon, it's a good time to get your ducks in a row. duck: quack! call to request your free decision guide now. because the time to think about tomorrow is today. # . hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington. 8:00 p.m. in jerusalem. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we begin with breaking news. president trump calls out white sprim si sprem 1i6789 upremacists and no name. some of what we heard from the president only moments ago. >> racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs. including the kkk, neo-