filed. they need the public's help. they are incredibly frustrated, wolf. >> brian todd on the scene for us. very dramatic developments. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. >> breaking news, president trump off the rails defending racist protesters in a complete about face. plus condemnation, the reaction swift and savage. is anyone besides the ku klux klan leader behind donald trump tonight? and white nationalists emboldened, threatens more protests. the breaking news, the real president trump, an extraordinary outburst exposing the president's real feelings about the violence in virginia. the president of the united states now defending and seemingly advocating for

neo-nazis and white supremacists in a contentious exchange with the media. it completely contradicted what trump did yesterday. here is president trump today. >> excuse me. what about the alt left that came charging at the alt right? do they have any semblance of guilt? >> but, sir, sir -- >> let me ask you this. what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? do they have any problem? i think they do. >> but, sir -- >> as far as i'm concerned, this was a horrible, horrible day. >> you're not putting these protester o eers on the same le as -- you're not putting them on the same level as neo-nazis and clans men? >> i watched this very closely. much more closely than you

people watched it. and you have -- you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent and nobody wants to say that. but i'll say it right now. you had a group -- you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent. >> by alt left the president means those who confronted the racist hate groups over the weekend, who had sought the permits for their rally to begin with. trump was wound up and the remarks he made came fast and furious. his staff was watching, sort of arms crossed as trump doubled and tripled down. >> you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. and nobody wants to say that. but i'll say it right now. you had a group -- you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent. >> and in return trump

unravelled the carefully crafted message he read from a tell prompter yesterday. let me remind you what he did say to the nation yesterday. >> 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. those who spread violence strike at the very core of america. >> racist hate groups are repugnant and then he named them. that was yesterday. today it was a very different world. trump blaming both sides. and his stunning turn did not go unnoticed by the former grand wizard david duke who tweeted moments after the president's press conference, thank you president trump for your honesty and courage to tell the truth

about charlottesville and condemn the leftist terrorists in black lives matter. of course, let's be clear there was a terror act committed in charlottesville this weekend by a neo-nazi. and let's be clear who trump was defending today when he talked about good people on both sides. vice, the news group, was embedded with the, quote, unite the right, that's the group on friday and saturday in charlottesville. listen to yourself what these people were saying. >> do not replace us. jews will not replace us. jews will not replace us. blood and soil!

>> obviously, you can hear there the words of neo-nazis, the torches from the ku klux klan, you will not replace us, of course a reference to blacks, jews, one or the other, both. donald trump did not mean what he said yesterday when he condemned racist groups because the tell prompter was written by, well, we don't know who. but we know today donald trump said what he really thinks. sara, the president sat clearly from your reporting, jeff zel y zeleny's reporting, had no idea this was coming today. >> reporter: that's right. it was not the plan today. it caught staff members by surprise and told jeff this was all him. this was all trump. sources are also telling us that the president has been very irritable over the last 24 hours. he looked at the media reaction to the statement he made on monday and basically was frustrated that in his mind the

media still said it was not sufficient, that it didn't go far enough. obviously that anger spilled out into public today in what was a rambling press conference there and was much closer to the comments that trump initially had made over the weekend equivocating saying both sides shared cullability with this. chief of staff john kelly also frustrated. kelly is standing by, the newly minted chief of staff on the sidelines while president trump speaks. he has a stern look on his face. his arms are crossed. erin. >> thank you very much. and you heart sara's reporting. kelly is frustrating along with other members of the president's senior staff. april ryan, nia-malika henderson and doug brinkley. april, let me start with this point. the president thought he would turn a corner today and talk

about infrastructure. senior official told our jeff zeleny, this was all him. this wasn't our plan. he went off by himself. >> he went off by himself and you saw who the president really was. this president, as we saw for the last couple of days, he's been angry. as we talked about last night, we saw those tweets that he was attacking and railing against the merck ceo, an african-american. he played right into what david duke wanted. this president showed who he was and now he's promoting or supporting his base. but the rest of america, the vast majority that disapprove, are very much in disapproval. i talked to various african-american republicans today who are very upset with this administration and what the

president had to say. i mean, i've talked to so many people from so many different corners. people jewish americans who live and work and have shops in charlottesville are very upset. this president probably will have to come back and address what he means and what he says from today's press conference. just so much, infrastructure, anything right now, unres it is north korea or russia, maybe not even that. right now this is the story and this will follow him for a while. this is something this nation has been dealing with for hundreds of years and this president just opened up a pandora's box again. >> it was completely off the rails. you could see with the crossed arms of general kelly, the stern look on his aids faces, this is not what they wanted, what they expected and very important, as we can see there watching, kelly

had no control over the president. >> right. but in many ways they should have expected this, right? surely the president has been fuming in public or in private about how he really feels about charlottesville. surely they knew they had to force the president to stick to a message yesterday and they knew he felt very differently. so this idea that somehow this wasn't part of their plan, they send the president out there. and remember as he's out there he has his statement. right? at some point he reads a statement from saturday. so he, it seems, was very much prepared for this. and certainly seemed to sort of relish the moment. this sort of notion of they weren't expecting this or they weren't prepared for this, they worked in this white house all of those aids for many, many months and certainly john kelly, i imagine has been privy to what the president has thought really about charlottesville. it is absurd. it is a dereliction of duty by

the idea that they didn't know. >> mark, why do you think the president did it? right? we know it took him 48 hours to say the kkk was repugnant, racism is evil. why did he backtrack today? >> because the president has been fuming as nia-malika henderson said at the idea he had to publically give that statement. what you saw was narsism and arrogance and white male rage. he resented having to about nong that racism existed. he does not ever want to be held accountable. and so when he was finally held accountable with that message yesterday or 48 hours later, he now resented it. any question that anyone asked donald trump about that topic was going to lead to this type of outburst. >> is it that his true feelings

on race came out? which is it, mark? >> i think it is a little bit of everything. on the one hand donald trump isn't known for having a coherent world view. whatever plays to his base, whatever plays to the cheap seats, he is willing to do. i think he felt he didn't need to be accountable to anyone. there were moments in the speech where he speaks out about the statue saying who's next, george washington? that signals to his base, he's sending a smoke signal to his base, that no matter what i said yesterday or the day before, i'm still accountable to you. i still value you as a base, even though you are the alt right and that's the dangerous part. >> first let me just talk about the response here from kkk neo-nazis. richard censer tweeted tonight of trump, i'm proud of him for speaking the truth and again the

david duke tweet very quick after the press conference. he says thank you, president trump to condemn the leftist terrorists in blm. he has gotten praise from these individuals before. but he slammed them yesterday. and then today back on their side. doug, what is going on? >> look, donald trump blew up like a volcano today. it was an utter disaster of a press conference. he has sere you moral credibility with the majority of americans and he's become a bedfellow of people like david duke in history. we look at donald trump and saying it is unpress sented. what other president i get asked would behave like this? no other president would behave like that. donald trump is par with people like david duke, joe mccarthy, george wallace, meaning he's willing to deal in hate mongering, anything to divide the country.

many ways trump supporters are old george wallace voters and donald trump seems to know nothing about history. he's trying to relitigate today the civil war. he was weeping crocodile tears for stonewall jackson. he didn't understand that jefferson and washington are in a different category than people that were trees nous like ste jackson and lee. >> he also tried to say, though, that what this was about was taking down confederate war memorials and not about white supremacy, right? conflating those two issues as well. here he is. >> you had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from robert e. lee to another name. george washington was a slave owner. was george washington a slave owner? so will george washington now

lose his status? are we going to take down -- excuse me. are we going to take down -- are we going to take down statues to george washington? how about thomas jefferson? what do you think of thomas jefferson? do you like him? okay, good. are we going to take down the statue? because he was a major slave owner. so it's fine. you are changing history. you're changing culture. >> doug? >> look, it was nauseating to have to listen to that. i spoke to the mayor of new orleans. he's dealing with the flood crisis right now and he told me the same guys, all of these neo-nazi people were there when he took down a robert e. lee statue in new orleans. he gave an amazing speech and gave us a road map of how to confront this alternative right movement that is erupting around the country. i don't think it's a democrat

versus republican thing going right now. it is about a fringe group of americans that have a president willing to speak their language and do their bidding and be a king of nods and winks towards bigotry. >> just to be clear here, many republicans are coming out and making it very clear, there is no moral equivalency here between kkk, knee you that sis and counter protesters. paul ryan said white supremacy is repulsive. there can be no moral ambiguity. marco rubio laid it out beautifully t. organizers of events that led to charlottesville are 100% to blame for a number of reasons. they are adherent to the ideology that certain people are inferior when an entire movement is built on anger and hatred it

needs to violence against them. these groups use the same symbols as neo-nazi and kkk. mr. president, you can't allow white supremacists to share the blame. the white supremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of the blame as a win. we cannot allow this old evil to be resurrected. at what point does one of the senators, congress people, leave the president for good? >> and, see, that's the point. these tweets, these words are great and i am hearing from so many african-american leaders, people in the jewish community saying when are you going to do something about it. that's the issue. i'm going back to the campaign. when this president was running for president, he was using words that were code to his crowd that, you know, make america great for some people that was code. take it back to when?

what time period? what's he talking about. seeing what happened this weekend, so many people are very upset. words are one thing, but it takes action to stop this. what kind of action? we don't know. but a lot of leaders are very upset. the words are flowery from republicans, democrats, whoever. now it is about action. the problem is when the president going back to the issue of of washington and jefferson, yes, they had slaves. he got that part right, but the issue is the fact that the president is saying these things to help his base to keep the fight going for what they want, for what they want to reclaim and there is spillage. he is the moral leader, whether he wants to be or not. and he says that the economy will fix the race problem and race relations are better. no, it's not. it is worst. it is divided. his own party is coming out against him. >> does this matter when it comes to his base? does his presidency end in any

way for any of them or are you looking at trying to make an argument that 30% of america, whatever his base are are all racists? >> i mean, i doubt that. i mean, i don't know. i think, you know, it comes down i think to this point to tribalism. he is a republican. those folks are republican. they voted for donald trump in many ways excusing some of his racist and sexist comments. and so i think we'll probably see some of that maintained. i do think those republicans in many ways, those words from marco rubio i think are strong but also a little tempid. marco rubio called barack obama one of the most divisive figures in modern history. he said that obama, when he visited a mosque, was seeking to divide the country. all of these republicans have come out with these tweets. some of them don't even name trump. he did and he called him mr. president. so they had very tough words for

president obama, condemning him. i think marco rubio once claimed obama was trying to destroy the country and certainly many republicans were on that bandwagon. so what they're coming out with is pretty tempid, given that the president of the united states just exonerated white see prumists in his statements toe someday. >> thank you all very much. i appreciate it. next more of our breaking news. president trump saying there were very bad people on both sides. we take a closer look at just who was in charts lotville. strong reaction from both sides of the aisle. more business executives quitting working with trump, all of them over his handling of the charlottesville situation. will more ceos drop out tonight? well, because it tells us something powerful about progress: that whether times are good or bad, neo-nazi that si nazi na

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president trump lashing out tonight at what he call it is alt left saying he incited some of the violence in virginia. speaking to reporters at trump tower, the president doubled down on his idea that there is blame for both. >> what about the alt left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt right? do they have any semblance of guilt? what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? do they have any problem? i think they do. >> cnn is outfront and sara, so

let's get at this. when the president is talking about the alt left that he says were charging with clubs, all right, who are these people? who were they doing? >> these people dressed in black and there is a group called anti-fathers, a group of people within that group who call themselves black law and they do show up and sew destruction. they have done it in berkeley. we have seen it play out in the west a lot. their ideas are that nonviolence hasn't worked and so they are going to use violence against anyone they see as fascist or neo-nazis. that is something the president should condemn. he did not mention that some of the fighting was from white s supremacists themselves. one, are you the president of america? or are you the president of the alt right? are you only worried about your base with the things he said

today? and, two, who are the people that were very fine people in that group holding tiki torches looking like an upscale kkk rally and talking anti-jewish, anti-black. who are they? i don't think anyone in that group and saying the most vile things, i'm not sure you could find someone who is a very good person in that crowd. >> certainly, we have seen whether it's paul ryan or marco rubio and many others. i'm mentions republicing republ make a point here. all of them saying there is no moral equivalency when you are the group that wanted to be there. let's be clear where the blame lies. all right. stay with me, sara, because i want to bring into the conversation the vice mayor of charlottesville. you just heard sara out the groups here.

the president is clearly putting part of the blame on what he calls the alt left and you heard sara say when they sew destruction that should be condemned. what is your response to the president blaming the alt left in part? >> well, thank you very fg me and once again before i begin, i would like to send my deepest condolences to the families of sister heather as well as the police officers who lost their lives this tragic weekend. so answer your question, i am just utterly disgusted and dismayed and disappointed with 45's response. if he hasn't shown us enough times before exactly who he is. i was holding out a glimmer of hope he would continue on his path of condemning these white supremacists, but to create a new term such as the alt left and condemn groups who came with

clubs and things of that nature, who quite frankly who was here with t they may not be alive today. very clearly, if not for antifa, he may not be alive. today, 45 came out and plainly not even accept any kind of responsibility, condemn the groups at all, but yet try to make choo make excuses. we're dealing with a child in a grown man's body who somehow has come to the greatest office in the land and i'm disappointed. >> when you talk about 45 you're talking about president trump. i want to get at that in a moment. but let me just before i do that, give you a chance to respond to the point that the vice mayor is making. some of the people involved in this violent protest, richard spencer, leader of the alt right

movement called martin luther king jr. a fraud. jason kessler, white nationalist responsible for organizing the protest. they spoke to some of the people at the rally. i want to play more of what they had to say. this is about the president ant his daughter ivanka. >> i'm here to spread ideas, talk in the hopes that somebody more capable will come along and do that, somebody like donald trump who does not give his daughter to a jew. >> so donald trump is more racist? >> a lot more racist than donald trump. i don't think you can feel about race how i do and watch that jared cutch inner walk around with that beautiful girl. >> i'm trying to use my words

appropriate for fv. let's be clear. we have to be -- have to be able to have a real conversation about the fact that there is people on both sides that want a race war in this country. there were people that were in this man's group that are disgusting and violent human beings that want a race war. they love this. they love the fact their message just got out on national tv. and i -- it makes me so frustrated because they're now able to get their message out and seem bigger than they really are. at the same time, they're the antifascists. some of them showed up. and this has nothing to do with an equivalency to these vile and mentally disturbed individuals that showed up on the other side. they use spray paint cans as fire torches. they had bats and they went in there to create a race war in this country and to make it look

bigger than it is. and i think that -- >> what would you do if people had guns? what would you do if people were aiming guns at you? ak-47s and ar-15s at a rally? >> who was aiming a gun at somebody? i think you need to be careful with your words. >> no. there has been video of individuals who were pointing guns at people in the crowds. i saw it with my own two eyes today. don't tell me what i saw. >> you go after them with a bat? is that what you're saying? are you saying that the violence is justified? is that what you're saying? is the violence on both sides justified? because i don't think any of it is justified. >> you're justifying the actions of these individuals by talking about this anti-left group you're describing. no, you let me finish. you're justifying their actions by bringing up the fact that some individuals had bats while

other individuals were walking around as you proclaim open carrying with guns who were trying to send clear signs of intimidation to different people. who are the thugs you are talking about? is it a person like myself who i have on t-shirt, necklaces and earrin earrings. are these the same people you see in the comments section on cnn? >> let me speak. >> you are emboldening them by giving them air time is also saying that, well, we should also condemn the anti-left. no the alt left did not kill a young woman on saturday. so stop it. >> agree with you. i agree with you. let me respond to what you are saying because it is important. >> you know what you're doing is right. >> listen, the fact of the matter is, we should be able to have a conversation without someone saying that you're defending them by being honest about you had individuals,

agitators who were actively wanting a race war. >> what about marco rubio's point? they are 100% to blame for a number of reasons which he proceeds to very eloquently lay out, right? ben, would you deny that? bad people could exist on both sides. you are admitting the blame lies on the people who were there for the alt right? you are admitting that? >> let's be clear, the alt right that was there, they obviously went there with intent to start a race war and to build their message and to use the media to recruit new members, and they killed somebody. that is -- that is completely stand-alone on its own point. there is no reason to act like that there were also some people that showed up to respond to their bigotry, their hatred and racism saying they wanted a race war. i don't think that should be out-of-bounds. i can sit here and rewind to a

night in this city where there were people in the black lives matter movement that walked around with the same guns in dallas the night multiple police officers were shot. it is not okay. you should be able to talk about both situations and it not necessarily be that somehow you are saying that one side is somehow less responsible. the white supremacists were responsible for this. they started it. but we have to be able to have an honest conversation that there are people on both extreme sides that want a race war in this country. >> can i jump in there? you mentioned something, and sorry, gentlemen, i think it is important to make a couple of points. ben, you mentioned something about black lives matter walking around with guns after police officers were shot in dallas. i was there. i saw maybe one person with a gun. but i will tell you that black lives matter had nothing to do with that. the person that was eventually brought to account and killed who shot all of those police

officers was actually acting on his own and he was a former soldier. so i think we need to be very clear about that. i think a lot of times someone will say black lives matter is just as much a terror organization as the kkk, and that is nonsense. i want to say one more thing. it brought up a lot and i don't think it's fair. but i want to say a couple more things. one thing is that the president spoke today and we were all listening. people were riveted by this. and i think one of the things that came out that was very clear is that this time he was so passionate. he was not like he was the day before where he was given a very scripted message that he stuck to. it looked like today he was telling the truth and how he really feels, and that's how america saw it. his truth. and there are a lot of people he hurt with that. i will tell you i have been on the phone today with people whose family members were killed by white supremacists and they are terrified after hearing from

the president who is supposed to be bringing people together. that's problematic. >> ben? >> let me say two things here. the point i was making about black lives matter and the guy with the gun walking around is there were people that will put themselves in a situation withp the intent to become violent or enrage people? >> when, ben? >> i was here the night it happened. there was more than one person with a gun. you do not know what you are talking about. >> one at a time. go ahead. >> you made a lot of mistakes in your life with tweets. one, you don't call the president the president. you call him 45. you think you're bringing people together? you think that's bringing people together. >> 45 is who he is and that's who he's going to remain in my eyes. >> you said that women should be

able to be -- it is not a sexual assault if they're semi-awake. this is my point. it is in your tweets, man. it is in your tweets. >> okay. >> you were an agitator at that point in your life. you said you hated white people. you were an agitator at that point in your life. there are people just like you back in your 20s show up at these rallies to be agitators and to start a race war. when you tweet out you hate white people, that is starting a race war. it is not loving in kind. >> there is a difference. there is a difference. >> i'll give you a chance to respond and then to our viewers, you did talk about this yesterday. we show some of these tweets. go ahead. >> yes, ma'am. here is the difference in the two. you can't bring up a point and saying you want to have a honest dialogue without accepting accountability. the difference here is that i'm more than willing to not only

admit my mistakes, take accountable for them, but also graciously give credit where it's due to the individuals of the city of charlottesville who helped me mature and grow as a one. you are making excuses. there is no accountability. >> i didn't make an excuse for everybody tonight. >> you let me finish. what you just did just now is allow these individuals a way without because when you make comments and parallels and say, yes, we know what they did is long and you bring up that conjunction word, but, because i am a doctor of education but saying we still need to blame or place blame or put somehow some way -- >> we need to have a real conversation. >> you need to be quiet and let me talk. when you do that, that removes all the pain that the other individuals feel. because what you are doing is trying to take away the blame from where it belongs. that is what so many people of the people in this country are

disappointed with 45 because what he did is show how he truly feels. >> let me just ask you a question here. >> i'm ashamed to say he's my president. >> you're ashamed he's your president. way to bring the country together. >> i'm giving you a chance to respond. i want to ask you about this, calling him 45. as a vice mayor of a city, i know how you feel about him, he is the president of the united states, though. are you simply unable to say that? >> act like it. >> okay. but do you respect that he did win and hold that office? it is weird that you won't call him by his title. >> it's not weird. it's not weird at all. i can respect the office and not respect the person in it. very simple. when you come down and you don't even -- you couldn't even clearly state and say white s supremacists after all this took place and gave us a half hearted

explanation and you expect me, an african-american, the seventh in history and the other individuals who have been disrespected in the city by encouraging these white supremacists and also place blame on the alt left and you expect me to call this man president? that's not going to happen. >> he is the president, ben. >> you can bring up old tweets. >> i'm not calling him that. you can bring up -- >> hey, i have one question. just one quick question? did you call him president trump before saturday? >> he will not work to bring people together. no, i didn't call him 45 before saturday. >> i will leave it there. >> you good? >> next the breaking news republicans have been tearing into president trump at this hour after he defends racist protesters and calling some in the group very fine people.

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breaking news, outrage and condemnation widespread. lawmakers very clear mincing no words and blasting president trump after he claimed both sides are to blame for the deadly charlottesville situation in which, of course, there was a terrorist attack perpetuated by a knee you nae nneo-nazi. words cannot express any disgust and disappointment. steve scalise, who of course you know is still recovering from being shot tweeted, quote, i was clear about this bigotry and vie len lens over the weekend. we must defeat it in all forms

of hatred. john kasich came out tweeting there is no moral equivalency to nazi sympathizers. there can be no room. echoing of course what i read earlier from marco rubio and the list goes on. republican after republican and joining me now is the republican congressman from virginia. this is personal to you. this all started in your state. let me give you a chance just to respond to what the president said today off teleprompter saying both sides are to blame and there were, quote, some very fine people on both sides. your response, congressman? >> well, let me first say, you know, my sympathies and condolences out to heather's family and the two troopers, of course. i think leadership matters and it starts at the top. and the folks that are

responsible for this rally, they're the ones that are 100% responsible for it. that doesn't excuse premeditated lawless less from anybody. but they are response for it and i think we should shame them because there is no home for hate anywhere in virginia or america. and this group is a group that is anti-black, anti-gay, an anti-jew. >> were you shocked by what the president did today? yesterday he came out. it was late. you criticized him for that. you said they have no place in kour state, country or world. you were clear. and the president came out yesterday and read from the teleprompter today. were you surprised? >> yes and no. why i say no, i'll start with that person because i myself was

in israel when these nazi folks were there creating this. i saw what happened on friday night, which is when the violence started, quite frankly and made a statement. then saturday happened and unfortunately we had the events that happened. it doesn't surprise me he had to make two statements, but that being said, yeah, of course we wanted to say something that was a lot stronger in the beginning and in the second statement and certainly today. i was in a meeting when the press conference happened but i saw what happened during it, and i think, you know, you've got to say this is wrong, this should never happen. you're not going to be talking about there were fine people. so, yeah, i don't agree with that of course and i think he should have been stronger. leadership matters, and it starts at the top. >> why do you think he did it? that's what everyone is trying to understand? why do you think he did it? is he a racist? >> no, no. >> what's the reasoning, do you

think? >> i can't answer that definitively at all. i don't think the president is a racist. i think that's the wrong thing to say to folks. like i say, there was premeditated lawlessness on both sides. that should be reported on the press and one of you had a guest trying to get that out a couple minutes ago. but the facts should certainly be reported. that was not alleviate the responsibility of the nazis and kkk and the groups that organized this protest to cause problems. there is no question about it. the responsibility lies with them, but also doesn't excuse lawlessness on any side. i don't know if he was trying to say that. i don't think that he's a r racist. >> one of the congressmen was saying there were people close to the friend that he felt, you know, were at the least appealing and accommodating to racist, appeasing and accommoda accommodating. there have been republicans and

democrats who have been calling for the president to get rid of steve bannon, who is of course in his inner circle. we understand that he and president trump were in communication via text on saturday when the president of course said both sides. today the president would not commit to keeping steve bannon around. let me play what he said in the press conference about him. >> i like him. he's a good man. he is not a racist. i can tell you that. he's a good person. he actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. we'll see what happens with mr. bann bannon, but he's a good person and i think the press treats him unfairly. >> do you think steve bannon should have a place in that white house, congressman? >> i'm going to leave it to the president to decide who he wants to have in his white house. that is his prerogative. i don't know steve bannon personally. i know he's gotten a lot of press. i don't know if it's right or i don't think.

i don't know him personally. the president will have to deal with both the positives and negatives of anyone who he brings in his white house. >> all right. thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. good to see you, erin. >> next, more of our breaking news. more business leaders refusing to work with trump, quitting his business counsel after the president doubles down and does not condemn white supremacy. [car tires screech] [bell rings]

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breaking news. outrage growing tonight over trump's handling over the deadly violence in charlottesville. six major business executives have resigned, some in just the past hour, from the president's manufacturing council. saying we cannot sit on a council for a president who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism. the first to do so was the ceo of merck, the only african-american on the council. trump then attacked him personally several times and had this to say about all the business leaders who quit. >> they're not taking their job seriously as it pertains to this country. we want jobs, manufacturing in this country.

if you look at some of those people that you're talking about, they're outside of the country. i have to tell you, some of the folks that will leave, they're leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside. >> meaning outside the united states. he says that's why they're leaving. former senior economic adviser for the trump campaign joins me, along with cornell brooks. cornell, obviously these resignations, six from five major organizations. obviously, kenneth frazier was the one who came out first and took that big leap and did it. what do you say? >> i simply say this, that the president has accused these business leaders and this labor leader of grandstanding. but note this, these business leaders, in the midst of this growing economy, low unemployment rate, a pro business president, has decided to take a principled and moral

stand in opposition to his failure to denounce white nationalism in our midst. they should be commended for this. and the fact that you have a labor leader and business leaders all on the same moral page says a whole lot about them, but it says more about our president. much has been said by him about his political base. the question we all need to ask ourselves tonight is where is his base of moral credibility? he doesn't have one, because you have business leaders and a labor leader and millions of americans who frankly are repulsed by what he's done. >> so let me ask you, steven, the president said there that the ceos were leaving out of embarrassment because they have jobs outside the country, he's making it about jobs, they're embarrassed. you worked with him. is he really serious when he says that? >> well, he hates when american companies move their facilities out of the country, no question about it. but with respect to the issue of

these ceos leaving this business council, you know, i think i've just come to the personal conclusion that ceos should follow their own conscience and do what they feel is right for themselves and their companies. but i wanted to address that issue that you asked the congressman, erin, about whether donald trump is a racist. and i would simply say that first of all, what kind of a question is that to ask if a president is a racist? of course donald trump is not a racist. he may not have said things the right way this week, but you know, if you look at the results, ben talked about the economy, which is what trump is always trying to get back to. i looked a @ statistics. black north koreas are up under donald trump, reversing the decline that happened under barack obama. the pace of job growth of black americans is double what it was under barack obama. that is, as you know, donald trump wants to take $10 billion of federal education money and give that to low income parents, as you know, ben, 90% of those

parents and families are african-american. does that sound like -- do those sound like the policies of a president who doesn't like black americans. >> cornell, do you take that point or is it fair to ask given what's happened over the past 72 hours whether race cyst a fair word to use? >> with all due respect to my colleague, he's missed the point. the point here is not whether or not the president supports policies that offer an economic benefit to african-americans and others. the issue is with respect to charlottesville, whether or not the president stood up and stood against white nationalism and white supremacy. the answer to that is he failed to do so. the other point here is that when you ask the question is the president a racist, here's what he know? the president has blown racial dog whistles from the campaign forward and well before that. the president has sanctioned white supremacy. the president has gone out of

the way to engage in the apologetics of white nationalism. when you ask whether or not he is a racist, what we do know is this -- the policies he supported, the rhetoric he's offered, the positions he's taken are racially de lly detri to the whole of the country. >> when you -- >> white nationalism is dangerous. deadly dangerous. >> i'm not going to condone what president trump said today. i'm just not going to do it. but having been around him, erin, as i was during the campaign, the way that -- you know, when i would go to these rallies that trump had, you would be surprised, erin and ben, how many african-americans and hispanics were at those rallies. he had a message of economic growth and jobs that -- look, i would say this, ben, the two most important things for african-americans today are better schools and more economic opportunity and jobs and he's delivering. >> so cornell, sit possible he

could end up being a good president for black america, despite what he says? >> that's my question, too. >> so when the president asked months ago to african-americans, what do you have to lose? we can answer now our lives. what defense to lose? our democracy. what do we have to lose? our rights. what defense to lose? our moral legitimacy as a nation. we have much to lose, and in the months he's been president, we've most much. >> final response, steve? says hate racism. i think donald trump hates it. i wish he would be more forceful and reach out to african-americans. he needs to do that right now, because look, i respect you and the fact that so many americans do wonder whether he's sanctioning white supremacy. he has to be more forthright. i want to hear -- at some point i want to hear you say i'm comfortable with what this president is saying on race. >> obviously that's not

something very many people are willing to say, including you yourself steve, as you said. i don't know anyone who is. david duke is today, there's one. thank you very much to both of you. thanks to all of you for joining us. watch us anywhere, any time. anderson is next. we normal hi start off the broadcast saying good evening. but tonight there doesn't seem to be much that is good about this evening. a few hours the president of the united states revealed so clearly who and what he really is. today, the president of the united states ripped open wounds that have barely begun healing in charlottesville on a subject, race, that's tormented this country from the very beginning and nearly torn it apart more than once. he ripped open these wounds to show the world he did not make a mistake on saturday when he spoke words that were untrue and insensitive. in the remarks he made today, he revealed what he truly thinks about race in america. he revealed what he thinks about fundamental fairness, about a president's role