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-nazis, white supremacists, 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 -- >> the president was certainly under fire for his remarking over the weekend after a car plowed into a crowd killing a demonstrator and gin you ar inj 20 others. he said that wrongdoing was going on on many sides. many sides, we did not hear that from the president today. no reference to "on many sides." an update on all the late-breaking developments. seen yur white house correspondent jim acosta is at the white house. correspondent brian todd in charlottesville, virginia, where the suspect in saturday's attack was in court earlier this morning. jim acosta, the president's remarks, very specific. a lot of people are insisting he

should have uttered these words on saturday. it would have saved him some criticism. >> reporter: saved a lot of trouble, wolf. clearly, a cleanup job we saw here at the white house within the last hour. i was in the room as part of the white house tv pool, wolf, when the president made thee remarks. they were scripted. he was reading off a teleprompter and i can tell you as he left the room, reporters were shouting questions at the president, as to why he did not make this kind of statement on saturday. why he did not clearly condemn these groups that he condemned today. he obviously heard those questions as he left the room there, wolf, but did not answer those questions. but it is worth noting, yes, during these remarks he did condemn those groups by name. called out the kkk, white supremacists and neo-nazis and said justice will be delivered when it comes to the investigation into the death of

the woman that was killed in that violence in charlottesville on saturday. he also said, quote/unquote, racism is evil. i think what we saw reflected in the white house earlier today, wolf, and the president's statements is that he is, he is somebody who will listen to criticism. obviously he heard an avalanche of criticism over the weekend, just about the whole country thought the president did not go far enough in condemning these groups for the violence that happened saturday. i think what you saw here is the president essentially being cowed into doing the right thing here by members of both parties. people from all walks of life who just thought the president kind of blew it on saturday, wolf. >> he did announce, also, and pointed out he had just emerged from a meeting with the attorney general and the fbi director that the department of justice has opened a civil rights investigation into that deadly car attack. >> reporter: that's right. >> he did not mention or suggest what we've heard from others that this was also a potential

investigation into an act of terror. >> reporter: that's right. >> are officials explaining that difference where you are? >> reporter: they're not, wolf nap stood out in the prashgs. remarks. those are not the words used when the president made that statement. the other thing to point out, wolf, on friday when the president was making those comments wb kim jong-un and escalating tensions with north korea, the president clearly said there would be a press conference. i think he described it as a big press conference at the white house on monday. that is today. wolf, if that statement that the president gave inside the white house a few moments ago is his idea of a press conference that is not a press conference. he did flot take questions from us. and i think obviously people will be drawing the contrast between how the president is not taking any questions when it comes to this situation in charlottesville over the weekend, and he was willing, and

willingness, to take questions when it comes to kim jong-un and the sibb osabre rattling with st late week. a clear contrast. the president at this point obviously appears to be not in the mood to take these kinds of question, but there is an opportunity later on this afternoon. he's expected to do a, do another event here at the white house around 3:00, and at that event it is possible he will take question there's. it is possible to hear the president answer some of these questions later today. he was clearly asked why he did not condemn these groups more forcefully on saturday. he was clearly asked this here at the white house. he simply chose to not answer those questions, wolf. >> see if he does later in the day. thanks very much, jim acosta at the white house. critics of the president's initial response on saturday to that attack in charlottesville, virginia, say it was a failure of leadership and a crucial moment, and his remarks only a

few moments ago, the president stepped up his criticism of hate groups here in the united states. >> 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 -- >> let's bring in our panel. a lot to assess now. chief national security corners jim sciutto, political director davis chalian, legal analyst, former prosecutor laura coates and senior political reporter malia learned son and gloria borger. what do you make of the president's statement about five minutes in length? we just heard it at the white house. >> look, it's clear to me the white house and the president are trying to make a reboot.

this is not a president who would ever admit that he failed a key leadership test. over the weekend, when he failed 0 address these white sprem 1i689s directly. sprem sich sifrts. supremacists. the president said in the clip, as i said on saturday, comma, making the case perhaps he believes he was expanding upon his remarks which were criticized roundly by every party. members of the republican party. so he didn't talk about domestic terrorism. his attorney general did. and this is his effort at rebooting, but i think many times we judge our presidents, but by how they respond in the moment. to these -- to these kinds of issues and i think he failed that test and this was an effort to say, okay.

here's my do-over. >> what he did do, david chalian, today, he failed to do on saturday, mention by name the kkk, the ku klux klan, neo-nazis, white supremacists. that's what people wanted to hear him specifically utter on saturday. took him a few days. he finally did it. >> right. no gloria's point, as i said on saturday, hoping to blur the lines. that is not what he said saturday and why he had to give this statement today nap was a really, really strong statement against what happened three days after the fact. imagine in reality, wolf, if he'd given that statement saturday, what all of us around the table would be saying about the president's remarks? the fact -- so give him his credit for finally getting out there and making very strong remarks, but don't do it without asking the question what have we learned fundamentally about this president in this episode?

about his initial instincts? can you sort abdicate this and with a makeup statement and monday, that's the question. this may check the boxes for republican critics in his own party and others to say, yes, this is what we looked for here. i don't think it erases the question of, why was this not his initial instinct on saturday? >> it wasn't his instinct on saturday. we have to look at donald trump and say what was his instinct on saturday to do? his instinct to say, on both sides. >> right. >> and now as they're trying to reboot, clean it up, whatever wah tount ca you want to call it, this was a strong statement. ask yourself the question. what is the test of leadership? having moral clarity, i believe, in the moment, which something like this occurs. again, you have to say, yes, he gave the right statement days

later. >> right. and what did it take to get him there? right? he's days and days of condemnation from republicans, and real outrage at his both sides kind of framing on saturday. i think, also, incumbent on this president i think in a way it hasn't been necessarily on others to really separate himself from white supremacists. listen to what white supremacists have said, david duke, essentially has said he sees donald trump as a fellow traveler. someone in word and deed articulates the kind of america that white supremacists want to see. i think it's incumbent upon this president to disavow them, say that white sprem sicht upremaci neo-nazis don't speak for him or the kind of america he wants to create. the so-called idea of american being great, neo-nazis have no part of that america that donald trump says he wants to create. he didn't really do that. i think we also have seen from

this president, when he see as threat. right? a threat for instance in inlegal immigrants voting. set up a commission to look into that. when he talks about illegal immigrants creating -- he set up a hot line. right? looking into that. there isn't much policy at this point in terms of addressing this. the doj is certainly looking into it. any kind of full-scale investigation into this, we haven't seen that. >> laura, he did say the department of jut is formally opened a civil rights investigation. he did say the department of justice has opened up a terror investigation. walk us through from the legal perspective the difference. >> certainly you have the civil rights division coming in to play because you have the affiliation of neo-nazis, white supremacists, saturated with racism and bigotry. a national information to go to the civil rights division. you don't have a terrorism investigation at this point. the u.s. code defines domestic

terrorism and this falls under that investigation but it's a bone without a hook. what it looks like for an uncontemplated unprecedented driving a car into other people as a weapon of mass destruction, you say. that's the hook they're looking for and why they can't legally say it. clo cloak kwouly ka loke cloak equolloquially wo say, talking about racist act as opposed to a terrorist act. >> i don't understand the attorney general, the president's national security adviser among others called it an act of terror. we didn't hear that from the president specifically, although his critics already are points

out if a muslim had driven a car into that crowd of individuals you know he would have called it an act of terror? >> no question. you've seen quick president's statements, tweets, principally, whenever there is a, activist islamic-inspired terrorism abroad, seen that less so and sometimes never when you have acts of terrorism, for instance, targeting muslims. we've seen the president come under criticism for that. an interesting point i would make, senior members of the military in addition to the ones you named come out very publicly on that very day saturday. one being the chief of naval operations, admiral john richardson saying bigotly that no place in this country. of course, that happens as you've also heard senior members of the military challenge the president on his transgender ban which to this point is still just a tweet. not an executive order, still saying anyone can serve. struck me that early on in the trump presidency, the thought

had been that the president's generals in effect will moderate him on key national security issues, for instance, north korea. interesting to see the voices pop up on social issues like this. transgender and now on this. senior military officials beating the president to the punch as it were, calling out the kkk. white supremacists, racism, explicitly, took the president some time to do. >> gloria, he opened up his statement with sentences how strong the u.s. economy is. and with the fbi director and then went into a strong statement condemning the ku klux klan, white supremacist and neo-nazi groups. some saying why did he need to open with rhetoric about the strong economy? >> that struck me in the wrong way as well. i must say. i think this is sort of a moment for the country and the president needs to recognize that, or should recognize that,

and start out by saying, look, this is something that needs to be addressed here. and i would argue that -- that you can address the country on this in a, in a separate address, and say, this is a moment for us to sit and reflect and maybe we're going to have a commission that's needed. maybe we need more public conversation about this and as your president, let me talk to you about what i'm think being a and what we are doing, and then at some other point perhaps later today talk about trade policy and et cetera, et cetera. i think honestly, this deserved, particularly since it was a very detailed statement, this deserved its own address. from the president to the nation, david chalian? >> it will be treated that way. i doubt many of us will run the economy, gets repeated over and over again. i notices, wolf, remember, we came out with a poll last week.

a couple things that didn't get attention last week all of a sudden i went back and looked at has trump changed the stature of the presidency? 55% of americans say he's lowered it . 17% said raised it. will trump unite the country, divide it? 35% unite it. 61% said he won't. ask yourself if what happened over this weekend, did he help this standing he has with american voters or hurt it? i think today's statement is obviously an attempt to make it up, but he's already got such low marks on these kinds of big perceptions of donald trump in the presidency, wearing the presidency as an office, and he has so much work to do with the american people he clearly understood he had to try to correct some of that. >> and if i may, the idea of having a hate crime investigation, important thing and stoep have. doesn't replace the semantics of the terrorism l of it, but it's important.

and the counterprotests, can this department of justice effectively carry out a hate crime investigation and a potential conviction and prosecution? my instinct is based on the claiming back, going back on a lot of policies in the civil rights division alone. perhaps not at adamant or strident in their attempts to do so. a point of concern people have. the idea came out yesterday and talked about the idea, look, a hate crime investigation will happen. terrorism, et cetera. will he under his leadership be able to actuate the more than soap boxes and carry out an effective investigation? >> and you worked for the department of justice, prosecutor there. >> i did. >> do you not have confidence in the career professionals who will be involved in this investigation? >> confidence in the career professionals. unfortunately many of them are beholden to the whim of the political appointees who are forced to make the ultimate prosecution decision. that is where the buck stops. because it stops there, there can be a great deal of work done

by the career prosecutors and they are affected and they are patriots to the core, but if the buck stops in front of the door that says, i have a debt here. not a great deal changes. that remains to be seen in this administration. >> and the idea this was a one-off and treated as such. i think a lot of people when they saw the crowds gathered there, marching in charlottesville, with those torches, you were surprised at the numbers there. and the boldness, right? they didn't feel like they needed to wear hoods at that point. so this idea of whether or not this was a more wide-scale problem and if this administration is in a place inclined to look at it. >> let me just get jim sciutto in. jim, it may be three days late. he probably should have done this speech, these words, on saturday. but he does deserve credit for finally coming around and specifically naming those hate groups. >> listen, he did it. a very strongly worded statement.

he named kkk. white supremacists. he called them repugnant. said they have no place in 21st century america and said it very strongly. i wonder as i listened to the statement and seeing the president come out and deliver it, not via tweet or via just a statement or through unnamed officials, i wonder if we saw the hand of the new cheech of staff to some degree john kelly there? a military man, perhaps with the authority to tell the president, this is what you have to do. i wonder if that's a sign of his new leadership in that white house? >> all right. everybody stay with us. we're going to have a lot more on the breaking news. jim sciutto, david chalian, nia ma'lik henderson, and gloria borger. and the attack that kill add young woman in ohio appeared by video link. the suss spektr appeared before the jump and was denied bail.

the suspect. brine todd is on the scene in charlottesville, virginia. much more on the breaking news, right after this. for your heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

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car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators in charlottesville, virginia, killing one, injures 20 others. the suspect, james alex fields jr., 20-year-old, appeared before a judge today. our correspondent brian todd is in charlottesville for us. brian, update us what happened in the courtroom today and what we know about the suspect. >> reporter: right, wolf. charged moments inside and outside the courtroom today. a short time ago the suspect james alex fields appeared before judge robert downer here in charlottesville. the judge read charges against him. second-degree murder, malicious wounding and hit and run. the suspect video linked in, with via video screen from his jail cell in the county jail. saw an image of him on the screen rather than live appearance by him in the courtroom.

he was wearing kind of a prison jumpsuit. striped prison jumpsuit. looked drawn, sub dewed. subdued. the judge asked if he could afford an attorney. he said he could not. interesting moment. the judge said he contacted the public dendur's office and the public defender's office told him a relative of one of the public defenders was involved in saturday's violence somehow. the judge didn't go into specifics but the judge said because of that he could not appoint a public defender for james fields. he kind of went down a list and picked an attorney named charles weber to represent him and the judge admitted he hadn't kauc d contacted mr. weber. said this would be your attorney. where did he work? worked for a economy in maumee, ohio. re tried to reach people from that company and they haven't commented so far. wolf, interesting situation regarding the attorneys.

apparently someone in the public defender's office has a connection to what happened saturday and, therefore, the judge viewed it as a potential conflict and picked another attorney. we've tried to reach out to that attorney, charles weber. knocked on his door, called him. he hasn't gotten back to us. interesting information we've gathered overt weekend. learned from justice department officials familiar with the civil rights investigation into the case that officials feel they may have enough evidence to be suspicious that fields may have been trying to send some kind of broader message on saturday when he allegedly struck the people with his car rather than try to harm people. investigators telling cnn he are looking into weth her might have it accomplices's we don't know. just looking into that at this point and we know from records pulled that james fields joined the army in august of 2015, and separated for failing to meet training standards. wolf, doingalities more digging on the suspect and his court

appearance also a bit of a fracas out the courthouse. supporters of fields screamed epithets, shouted down and ea escorted away by sheriff's deputies. >> a high school teacher said publicly in counseling this young man during his high school years he was often expressing neo-nazi views. is that right? >> reporter: that is correct, wolf. derek weimer, the teacher, taught history to him. said he had a good rapport but made uncomfortable by some views and had an infatuation with nazis that might have formed some of his beliefs. we're trying to see if there's maybe obviously maybe a connection between some of those views and maybe his appearance here on saturday. >> yes. and the president, we just heard announce as full-scale civil

rights investigation into this attack. stand by. bringing in john whitback, chairman of the republican party of virginia. john, thanks very much for coming in. let me play a key clip of what the president just said. >> 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. we are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal. >> i assume you agree, john? you wish he would have uttered those words specifically condemning by name those hate groups on saturday, given all the fallout that's happened since then? >> i come at this from a perspective of making virginia my home. this was a tremendous weekend for us. it was a tragedy beyond anything that's going to be burned in nigh my mind and my counterpart

democrat side said something we'll never forget it's a virginians. the statement the president made today, statement of our rnc chairwoman and the attorney general, statements like that meant a lot to virginians i think today and we appreciate the sentiment and it's been a tough week for us, this weekend. >> and fellow republicans, very critical of the president since saturday. happy he finally did today what he should have done on saturday, but statement after statement from republican coming out saying, name these people, these hate groups, the nazi, the kkk, name them. don't just gloss over them? >> you can't emphatically enough denounce these groups. you have to be as unequivocal as you can be be. . our party leaders have said this message all along as americans, as virginians. we're united, republican, democrat, independents in virginia. not a par san issue and appreciate the sentiments that

have gone on in our commonwealth and wonderful to see everyone coming today. the president easily could have at least retweeted what ivanka trump his daughter tweeted yesterday. mentioned all of the hate groups by name. he didn't do that. was silent on twitter all of yesterday. whatever anybody goes after, you know how he tweets. tweets very, very quickly. how do you explain? it took until today, until the noon hour on monday, to utter those words? >> i think, wolf, what we saw today in his statement today was really what we would have heard, would have wanted to have heard on saturday and i think at one point during saturday i remember watching this unfold in this beautiful city thinking this is not virginia. this is not who we are. this is not charlottesville. and to have the president come forward and have a lot of our leaders come forward and speak on behalf of virginia, how much they care about what's going on in our commonwealth has been great for us. >> a lot of those hate group individuals who showed up, the excuse they had, they wanted to

protest a dismantling of the robert e. lee, confederate statue in charlottesville, virginia. they may have been their excuse. i don't know how significant that was, but that's become a big issue. where do you stand? where does the republican party of virginia stand on that robert e. lee statue? >> our nominee for governor ed gillespie has spoken on this and we support him. >> what has he said? >> he supports of history of virginia in all its form. you can't just eradicate the bad parts by taking down statues. i think he's right. one of the things that gets lost in this. these people were there about a statue. there to spread bigotry and hate and up to all of us to stand against it 100% and the republican party of virginia good, rnc does, our president does and we won't tolerate this. >> you don't think that statue should come don? >> i don't think it should come down, but that's not the issue. we have to stop the hatred.

we're getting away from that talking about confederate statues and really need to talk about the hatred done in charlottesville. that's what we're focusing on now. >> the chairman of the republican party in the commonwealth of virginia. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. still ahead, despite president trump's fiery rhetoric about north korea, the administration is presenting a rather cool and calm approach to the crisis, at least right now. a closer look at the latest developments when we come back. but if that's not enough, we have 7500 allys looking out for one thing, you. call in the next ten minutes to save on... and if that's not enough, we'll look after your every dollar. put down the phone. and if that's not enough, we'll look after your every cent. grab your wallet. access denied. and if that's still not enough to help you save... ooo i need these! we'll just bring out the snowplow. you don't need those! we'll do anything, seriously anything, to help our customers. thanks. ally. do it right.

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we're getting reaction to the break news. reaction of the president's statement on the attack in charlottesville, virginia. we'll have a lot more on that coming up and speak live with cornell williams brinks, former head of the naacp. first, other important news we're following now. in less than two hours president trump is expected to order an official probe into alleged china trade abuses such as the

theft of an intellectual property from u.s. firms. the problem could be problematic. beijing already said publicly that threats could poison its relationship with the united states. meanwhile, the secretary of state and the secretary of defense, are weighing in on north korea, and the "wall street journal" they write this, let me quote -- "we are replacing the failed policy of strategic patience, which expedited the north korean threat with a new policy of strategic accountability." let's discuss this with retired brigadier general mark kimmitt for military affairs serving under president bush and also diplomatic analyst retired admiral john kirby. gentlemen, strategic accountability. patience over all previous administrations clearly failed, because the north koreans, now they have a nuclear capability,

maybe as many as 60 nuclear bombs. they might be able to soon to miniaturize those bombs, put them on warheads that could launch, could be attached to intercontinental ballistic missiles. how do you see strategic accountability? >> if we come to agreement with thunderstorm korea there wi north korea, it must be verifiable, monitored and there must be consequences. >> do you think that's at all realistic? north korea will give up its nuclear capability? >> look at the editorial, they talk about a complete denuclear asianizati denuclearization of the peninsula. as long as we can convince north korea we are not seeking regime change, he can be assured of regime survival, those are the elements. >> and king jong-un, john, leader of north korea, sees that

nuclear capability they clear now now have as his insurance policy for not winding up moammar gadhafi. >> he look at the united states as about existential threat. we know that's ridiculous but they view it that way and their program is advancing faster than people expected as an insurance policy against that threat. very little, if no incentive for them to come to the negotiating table. you saw in the editorial and seen this administration also try to push on china. that's the key here. the path to pyongyang goes through beijing. use carrots and sticks. one of the sticks, probe into chinese trade packs. also need to look at carrots to incentivize china to have a different calculus. so far willing, chinese, china, willing to accept a nuclear armed north because they don't want a unified peninsula allied

to the westant and the exporter and importer involving north korea. >> i see an opportunity for china and helping with the denuclearization. as we extended this with nato causing other nato members to eliminate their nuclear weapons could, china give that assurance, insurance, to north korea allowing them to reduce nuclear weapons or eliminate them entirely? >> suggesting china would tell the government if you're attacked you'll have the backing of china's nuclear capability? >> exactly as we do in nato. >> is it realistic? >> it's worth exploring. and maybe just gut to a point, accept they are a nuclear power and go from there. >> i can tell you the president of the united states says the u.s. will not tolerate nuclear weapons in north korea. >> i understand that. i think you can still get to denuclearization but start from a clean slate accepting they

have the capability and as the general rightly points ow. out. look at a way tory drau the capability. another thing worth exploring as well. >> you think? >> i agree. >> hope this current crisis now can be diffused? last week the north koreans said by mid-august, that's this week, they don't get the right words coming out of the united states, they will launch four intermediate range ballistic missiles towards guam? >> it's being diffused now. the fact the united states has not moved assets into the border, not ramped up rhetoric. i think they realize that at this point they have got what they want. they're now going to focus on continued nuclear development, not striking the united states. >> you know they're supposed to be joint u.s./south korean intensive exercises this month, which the north koreans hate. >> they always do, but these exercises, you heard general dunford say in seoul today, they're important not just about message sending but real readiness and deterrent

capabilities. the exercises should go on and reminding everybody there these are defensive exercises. not offensive. >> we know how the north korean always react negatively to the joint exercises. thanks very much. appreciate it very much. just ahead, a major business leader quits the trump advisory council after the president's initial response to the mayhem in virginia this past weekend. we'll tell you what the ceo of merck pharmaceuticals had to say. i'll be joined by cornell williams brooks, the immediate past president of the naacp. we'll get his reaction to the president's very public criticism of hate groups including the kkk, white supremacists, neo-nazis that we just heard only moments ago over at the white house. much more coming up.

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last hour president trump tried to make amends more failing to condemn white supremacists by name over the weekend in the charlottesville, virginia, attack. for many the damage is clearly already done. today one of the most prominent african-american ceos of merckceuticals quit the manufacturing council and in statement wrote -- america's leaders must honor our fundamental values clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy. president trump within minutes lashed out on twriter. "now that ken frazier resigned he will have more time to lower rip-off drug prices." let's discuss. former president and ceo of the naacp, cornell williams brooks. first your reaction to ken

frazier of merck pharmaceuticals quitting the president's council. >> well, ken fraiche sir a well respected ceo and well rbed lawyer. for him to take this move, to take this step is a measure of the frustration, the righteous indignation of many americans. for him to quit the manufacturer' council in one of the nation's most prominent business leaders said what the president failed to do heretofore stroke a dip cord of disgust. he did the right thing. >> the president went after him on twitter and it's taken several days, saturday, sunday, today's monday, to formally try to fix what he initially should have said on saturday. let me play the clip of what he finally said today. >> racism is evil. and those who cause violence in-the-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. we are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal. >> what's your reaction? >> my reaction is this -- let's note this. the president responded within a nanosecond to ken frazier quitting the council as a consequence of his affairs. it took several days to call out white nationalist ares, klansmen for their violent conduct in schatzville. that's tragedy. when the white house issued a statement anonymously clarifying what the president failed to say, saying the president was trying to have his cake and eat it, too.

condemn this without calling them out. so today's statement is certainly an improvement but represents the rhetorical minimum. it is not yet the maximum. until such time as we see response of opening up a civil rights investigation into that individual who allegedly took that vehicle as a weapon, went into the crowd, killed that young woman, injured 20 others. >> yes, it's an important step. let us note this. we commend the president for sending prosecutorial resources into that particular crime, but to the extent this defendant was standing in the midst of knee oy nazis, white supremacists, to degree is a larger crime. the president has not yet spoken to what else happened to

charlottesville. that's crillically important, this act motivated by racism and an anti-semiti anti-semitism. >> clearly this individual, at least in high school, his high school teacher says he was sympathetic to neonazi thoughts. do you have confidence that the civil rights division at the justice department can move forward effectively and getting of job done. >> i have total confidence in the career prosecutors in and the career professionals. as was said earlier are the political appointees, the direction given by the attorney general and given by the white house. so the point being here is that if career prosecutors are allowed to do what it is that they have taken an oath to do, we'll get just. >> they clearly see this as a

hate crime. thanks very much, cornel brooks. >> thank you. coming up the man spearheading the russia probe is making bold moves. robert mueller wants to talk to key on trump officials. who is on the list? we'll have details when we come back. erin "the sharpshooter" shanahan fakes left. she's outside of the key, she shoots... ...she scores! uh... yes, erin, it is great time to score a deal. we need to make room for the 2018 models. relive the thrill of beating the clock. the volkswagen model year end event. hurry in for a $1,000 apr bonus and 0% apr for 60 months on a new 2017 jetta or passat. we believe in food that's anaturally beautiful,, fresh and nutritious. so there are no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives in any of the food we sell. we believe in real food. whole foods market.

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special counsel robert mueller is seeking interviews with key members of the trump administration including reince priebus, according to "new york times." the times also reporting that as part of the investigation into russia's efforts to influence last year's presidential election here in the united

states. mueller has already asked for details on specific meetings, and is looking into president trump's decision to fire the fbi director james comey. shimon prokopec is following this story. >> this seems to po indicate that what they're getting to is the obstruction of the key in this story is it looks like mueller and his team wanted to speak to reince -- the week prior to that when comey telling reince, tells him, this is inappropriate, you shouldn't be reaching out to the fbi, speaking to us directionally. the key there would be what did reince relate to the president

about whether what's appropriate and what's not appropriate the financial investigation, we know a lot about manafort, depending on who you talk to. that sometimes means the investigation is near completion, or they may start to make moves of an arrest or other things. some are telling us they're still searching through the various other documents they have received from banks, from corporations, other companies that folks within the trump world are a part. the have aition is still ongoing. >> necessary reaction? >>. >> no, various people have tried to reach out to the white house and none have responded to us.

>> clearly robert mueller has not been intimidated by some of the criticism that's been leveled against him. >> no, if anything, he's digging in. i've spoken to some over the weekend who knows mueller, worked for mueller, says this is exactly the way he does things, using a grand jury, using subpoenas, search warrants. it's all part of how he views investigations should be conducted. >> it could have been awkward, but today totally unrelated, the new fbi director christopher wray and the attorney general had a private meeting with the president of the united states. it could have been awkward, but talk a bit about that. >> interestingly enough, if you notice, it was the attorney general, jeff sessions and the fbi director who went there together. he did not seek to speak to the fbi director alone, which would indicate perhaps maybe he's learned his lessons that this is not appropriate, he should not be reaching out to the fbi director on his own. it is interesting, it is important that they both went

there together, and met with him and briefed him on the investigation. and no cameras. thanks victims shimon. thank you. right now the news continues right here on cnn. wolf, thank you so much, good to be with you on this month. this is cnn's special live coverage. after two dates of outcry from both parties for not calling out the ratest groups in charlottesville that turned deadly, president trump finally did it. just momentsal he noncondemp the